When You Were Young
by xMYxDAYDREAMx
Summary: A teambuilding trip which features 13 Sun Hill characters: Gina, Smithy, Emma, Will, Sam, Phil, Jack, Diane, Beth, Sally, Dan, Lewis and Kerry. There are no MAIN CHARACTERS each has a storyline.  SamPhil, KerrySmithy, EmmaWill pairings all feature.
1. So That's What Straws Are For!

"Right." Gina said as she bustled importantly into the Briefing Room. "I know you'll all be eager to get off, it being the end of the shift on a Friday but…"

Gina was cut off by the sound of Dan sighing. "I don't like the way this is going." Dan muttered to Will who was sitting next to him.

"But." Gina continued, glaring at him. "I have news about a teambuilding trip which at one point will involve all of you. There will be two trips, each lasting just over two weeks and the relief will be halved, some of you here will be leaving tomorrow morning and some in two weeks time." Gina said with a flourish of her hand as she hit the power button on the data projector.

A few of the relief sighed contentedly as they saw the pictures of comfortably furnished cabins, water sports facilities, a dance studio and an indoor swimming pool. "If however you think this is to be a straightforward chill out with a few friends from work you can pinch yourselves awake because we shall be joined by the underprivileged and troubled children from Canley." Gina added seeing the team's faces fall.

"Children…how old does that mean?" Sam asked worriedly from her seat at the back.

Gina cleared her throat and fixed her gaze back on Sam. "The kids…and there are 24 of them in total, range from five to sixteen. None are dangerous although some have severe behavioural problems. To you they shouldn't be different from nieces, nephews or strangers you meet in the street. They aren't cases either, they're children who are away from home to have a good time and we're there to take care of them and to make their time pleasant."

Several members of staff looked up, amazed that Gina could show that much compassion to who they could only assume were the kids they dealt with most days off the estate. A couple of them exchanged smirks and glances as if to ask if it was real. "So don't keep us in suspense Ma'am." Kerry said sarcastically. "Who out of us is leaving tomorrow?"

"Ah yes PC Young I was just coming to that. Those of you fortunate people who shall be joining myself and DCI Meadows are DI Nixon, DS Hunter, Sgt Smith and PC's Keane, Fletcher, Casper, Noble, Young, Green, Armstrong and Hardy. The rest of you shall be on the following trip with DI Manson and Superintendent Heaton!" Gina replied to which all those people who truly were fortunate enough to have been selected for the trip leaving soonest smirked at those who would be forced to spend two weeks outside of work with the hasher and less friendly superiors.

Smithy stole a sly glance across the room at Kerry which thankfully for him went unnoticed by the others around him. She smirked back and let her mind wander to all of the things that could happen between them now they were going away together, granted that there were eleven other people from Sun Hill going to be around them almost constantly. Kerry was torn from her daydream as Gina handed out information sheets and ushered them all from the room, telling them to be up bright and early and to be at the station by 8am.

As they left the room a few of the older member's of the team grumbled about missing their creature comforts, their own beds, houses and family. The young ones however were full of chatter and excitement. Even though it was a work related trip, they couldn't help themselves it felt like being back at school, like going away with friends on a field trip which always promised a bit of a skive.

Several hours later Will and Dan sat on the floor of their apartment each with a Playstation controller firmly clutched in their hands with an expression showing deep concentration on their faces. Hammering down on the X and the O Will briefly raised his hand in triumph as his car sped past Dan's on screen and crossed the finish line just millimetres before Dan's. Dan scowled and offered him a rematch which of course Will took up.

"You packed yet?" Dan asked trying to distract Will enough to get himself a new advantage. Will though was wise to the trick, one which he had in fact taught Dan to do often enough against other friends they had round. Lewis in particular was a sucker for that tactic. When he replied he kept his eyes trained on the screen, swerving round a particularly tight corner.

"Nope and I bet you haven't either. I'll do mine in the morning, shouldn't take long I mean what more could I need than some changes of clothes and my Ipod. It's not like there's a shortage of hot girls going as well!" Will said keeping his face passive but he saw Dan grin out of the corner of his eye.

Sam rolled over from her side onto her back, as she lay fully clothed on top of the bed. She smiled as she listened to Phil's voice on the other end of the phone. They'd been chatting for well over an hour while each of them could hear the muffled thumps and the opening and closing of drawers which was associated with their packing. Sam was now finished, about twenty minutes after Phil and she was lying back listening to him recount just one of the annoying things Terry had done earlier that day. She laughed at one and heard Phil's tone begin to sound a bit offended so she changed the subject.

"Have you heard any more about the kids that'll be going on this trip?" She asked, the niggling thought that some of the kids on the estates were pretty rough still present in her mind.

"A couple of things, no young offenders apparently. A couple have been arrested but none have had more than a caution. Apparently there's one from a case that Will and Emma worked on. Most of them are victims rather than suspects though. Still I'll protect you from those nasty little children if you're scared." Phil replied, putting on a baby voice at the end.

"I'm not scared!" Sam said defiantly, although in truth she probably was a little.

"Yeah whatever you say darlin'." Phil shot back patronisingly, making her giggle. "You want me to pick you up tomorrow morning, there ain't really much point in taking two cars if they're just gonna sit in the car park at the nick for a few weeks. I mean you probably don't want your car scratched up when Reg botches up his parking of the van!" He said reminding Sam of last time that had happened.

"That would be lovely thanks." Sam replied leaning over to turn her clock towards her. "Okay I'm gonna go to bed now…it's early but I'm really sleepy. I doubt we'll get much kip at the camp anyway." She added making Phil begin to dread it. They both said goodnight and put their phones down on their bedside tables before leaning back into their pillows and sighing happily. It was good to have friends like that.

Beth giggled and pointed at the TV screen. "He looks funny." She remarked turning her head sideways to get a better look at the guy.

"Um Beth I think that may have something to do with the fact that you're watching it upside down!" Emma joked looking strangely at her. "Oh and why are you doing that in the first place?" She said voicing Sally's question also.

"It's more fun!" Beth replied pulling at both of their wrists so they slid down on the sofa beside her and wriggled round so their heads were lolling just off the edge of the seat.

"Okay so I kind of see what you mean. It's different…but you can't drink like this!" Sally commented turning herself the right way up.

"Never really had that problem yet." Beth said thoughtfully.

"What? How come?" Emma asked turning in to face her.

"Well I've only legally been allowed to drink for about four or five months!" Beth replied grinning. "Not that it really stopped me before but hey. Actually yeah how would you drink upside down? That could really be a problem…especially tonight." She said gesturing to the still half full wine bottles littering the coffee table.

"Na you see that's what a straw's for!" Emma said joining in with Beth as she laughed at Sally's expression. Sally disappeared and then walked back through from Emma's kitchen a few minutes later having found three straws. Each dipped their straw into their glass and in turn choked as the wine hit the back of their throats with some force. Beth began to blow bubbles in her wine and Emma and Sally both got a violent bought of hiccups.

At the end of the night all of the girls were pretty out of it so they crashed at Emma's. Between the two of them they managed to carry Beth up the stairs and rest her on one side of the bed. They set up the camp bed along side the wardrobe and Emma insisted that she slept there so Sally could get a bed that wouldn't break her back by the morning!

"Emma?" Sally whispered in the darkness.

"Yeah." She replied sleepily.

"What do you think camp's gonna be like?" Sal asked, a note of panic in her voice.

"If it's anything like the camps I've been on when I was a kid then fantastic." Emma said reaching out for Sally's hand. "Don't let the thought of the kids scare you, you'll be great with them." She added seeing the apprehension lining her face in the pale light.

"Thanks Em." Emma heard her reply quietly a few moments later before she rolled over and fell asleep.

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	2. An Eventful Journey

After a whirlwind of an early morning everybody arrived at the Station ready and prepared for their trip. Beth, Sally and Emma had been up since 5am having to go to each of their houses to pick up their bags after their impromptu 'sleepover' the night before. Surprisingly though none of them had hangovers to complain about which Sally jokingly attributed to drinking most of the wine upside down!

Will and Dan stumbled about bleary eyed but that was not unusual, as most of the team had seen them on the early shift at some point. The gossip started as Phil and Sam pulled up in the same car looking very pally but after a glare from Phil the whispers died down and they started to focus on how the hell they were supposed to get to the camp…and for that matter where it was in the first place!

Gina was the last to arrive and she walked briskly out of the Station to find everybody ready and waiting. "Oh good you're all here." She said brightly after counting heads. "Well we've got a pretty long drive, unfortunately the bus has broken down on it's way here and there isn't a replacement available so those lucky people who took their cars have been selected to drive us all up to The Lake District. Now isn't that a lovely surprise." She added sarcastically.

In the end – and after much arguing – they were split up into three parties. Jack got into his car and was joined by Gina in the front and Smithy and Diane in the back, both grimly anticipating a very boring journey, being stuck there with their superiors for what felt like a seemingly endless amount of time. Sally and Dan finally finished glaring at each other following a debate about who was the better driver and having won Sally flounced off towards her car, changing her attitude at the last minute and turning to stick her tongue out childishly at Dan who rolled his eyes and followed her over along with Lewis and Kerry.

The surprisingly easy decision over who was going to drive the third car was decided by Phil who marched across to his car opened the door and got in the drivers seat, waiting for the remaining officers to join him. Sam settled herself in the passenger seat next to Phil and flashed him a grin while Beth, Will and Emma piled into the back.

The journey however long was certainly not eventful. Diane and Smithy had a two-hour thumb wrestling competition which ended in Smithy claiming that she'd broken his thumb and he proceeded to suck on it for the rest of the journey in a huff while she smirked at him from the opposite side of the car. In Sally's car they had turned up the music full blast and were shamelessly bouncing about to a cheesy pop CD that Sally's niece had left in her car from the last time she'd taken her out.

However the most eventful time had to have been in Phil's car because between Beth throwing up at the side of the road and then having to separate Will and Emma in the backseat because she could only see out the front if she sat there and Sam and Phil's flirting they had a pretty interesting time of it.

About an hour from reaching their destination Beth's chatter stopped abruptly and Will and Emma bent forwards to check on her because the last time they'd heard her shut up she'd fainted at work! Looking up at her however showed that she'd merely fallen asleep and they rested her back against the seat and then leant forwards to have their conversation around her. Emma yawned purely out of boredom but cracked another grin as she saw Will produce his PSP and she drew her own one out of the back pocket of her jeans. They both started up their games and found each other using the wireless connection and spent the rest of the time either battling each other or speaking via the msn type hook-up.

It was well after three by the time they got there due to the congestion of traffic on the busy motorways. Getting out of the car and yawning the group all stretched their legs and prodded those who'd fallen asleep awake again. Beth rubbed her eyes sleepily and stumbled into Dan who grabbed her round the waist to prevent her from falling over. They both blushed which did NOT go unnoticed by the others unlike the subtle flirting between Smithy and Kerry.

"Ahh hello to you all you must be the officers from Sun Hill." A woman with short auburn hair said from across the make shift car park. They all made their way towards her and she turned, leading them down a pathway to a large cabin which they entered, sliding off their shoes by the door to leave an extremely large and untidy pile.

They gathered in the lounge area, only a few actually managing to secure seats while the others perched on the sides of the squashy sofas or took up residence on the floor and rugs. Will sank down into a beanbag and pulled Emma with him so she was sitting on his lap. She turned to smile at him and he wrapped his arms loosely round her waist, ignoring the stares from Gina, Smithy and Dan.

The woman stood up again and gestured to the man next to her. "This everybody is my husband Frankie and he co-runs the camp with me. You surely all know each other but we'll be struggling with names for the next few days so forgive us in advance." Sascha continued smiling warmly around the room at each of them. "Accommodation you'll probably find quite comfortable seeing as we've just been refurbished completely. There are two cabins for the children, one for the boys and one for the girls and as staff there is another cabin for you all. Unfortunately as our children have gone on holidays with friends they cannot be here to act as the appropriate adults who must be left with the children at night time so we will need three of the men and three of the women to act as such and they will have a room between them in the children's cabins." She continued seeing them all exchange glances. "I'll leave that decision up to you lot while I go and sort out something to eat."

"I think we should have a vote on it but firstly does anybody want to volunteer themselves?" Gina asked diplomatically.

Beth raised her hand and after a nudge so did Sally. Emma looked behind her at Will and bit her lip. "Yeah I'll do it if nobody else wants to." She said softly.

"Thanks you three that makes this a lot easier." Gina answered appreciatively. On hearing this Jack raised his hand as did Dan and Lewis, albeit begrudgingly. "Okay well that's us sorted…now let's get some food I'm starved." She continued getting up out of her chair and following in the direction that Sascha left.

After a snack, they relaxed around the cabin until dinner where they talked noisily and discussed their new sleeping arrangements and the journey to the camp. When everything was said and done they were told that tomorrow they would receive their training in how to deal with the children effectively and then they left, tugging their luggage up the slope towards their cabin.

It was getting dark and twigs snapped in the trees nearby so Sam squealed and Phil and a few others laughed at her. "It's not funny." Sam muttered only loud enough for Phil to hear.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetie, come here, I'll protect you." He said holding out an arm for her which she gratefully clung onto and they walked up the hill arm in arm much to the rest of the team's amusement.

Emma, Beth and Sally approached their cabin and stepped apprehensively inside, looking around in the gloom and then Emma ran her hand down the wall in search of the light switch. When she eventually found it, the room was illuminated by a pale glow which was gradually getting brighter. There were ten bunk beds dotted about the room and in the centre was a small circular area with beanbags and some squashy armchairs along with a rug. Along one wall was a large bookcase which contained children's books, toys and board games. Looking down towards the end of the cabin Sally saw the communal showers and toilets with a row of sinks and mirrors down one side as well. Turning the opposite way she noticed a door and made her way towards it.

"Yeah guys this is us…well it looks like it anyway." She said gesturing to the fact that the room had three single beds, bedside cabinets and a large wardrobe lining one wall. They traipsed in and Emma flopped down on the middle bed sighing heavily.

Twenty minutes later and they were almost finished unpacking their clothes and shoes etc. Emma shoved her hand into the side pocket of her bag frantically. "Oh shit!" She said softly. The other two girls turned to look at her quizzically. "I um…I forgot to pack my pyjamas!" She answered sheepishly.

They all began laughing. "What you gonna do?" Beth asked still giggling.

"I've got some velour trackies…I'll just wear them and a t-shirt to bed instead." Emma said after a moment's consideration. After they'd unpacked and explored the cabin a bit more, they headed across to the main staff cabin to join their friends.

Previously when the rest of the team had arrived at their cabin they had stood around in the spacious living room and began to sort out the sleeping arrangements. Gina had a list of names which she ripped up and put in the baseball cap she'd borrowed from Lewis. Pulling out the names one by one she decided the arrangements which they'd be stuck with for the next two weeks. There were a series of groans and raised eyebrows but in general most were happy with where they'd ended up.

When the three guys and girls who'd volunteered themselves to sleep in the alternative cabins with the children had arrived and settled themselves on the big sofas in the living room the others came downstairs from their rooms to join them.

"So…who's everyone sharing with?" Emma asked looking around at the rest of the group.

Diane groaned and pointed to Will and Phil which made Lewis and Emma snicker. Gina and Sam happily announced that they were sharing, as did a very pleased looking Kerry and Smithy. Sally leant back in her chair and grinned. "So what do you lot think of this so far?" She asked after Gina and Jack had disappeared into the kitchen.

"The place is alright…it's just the brats that I'm not looking forward to having." Dan said dismissively as he grabbed the remote from Beth and changed the channel on the TV.

"Yeah." Sam agreed quietly. "I mean I guess it'll be a bit of a challenge to keep them under control." She added a note of panic still in her voice.

"I forgot my pyjamas!" Emma said embarrassedly. The others laughed but when they'd branched off onto another topic of conversation Will leant over and whispered flirtatiously in her ear.

"Now I definitely wouldn't mind sharing a bed with you." He said which earned him a well-deserved slap on the arm from Emma.

Their conversation was cut short by the reappearance of Gina and Jack and after another hour of watching mind-numbing TV most of them looked around for a clock and then announced that they should be getting to bed.

They looked around and noticed that Emma, Beth and Kerry had all fallen asleep; each slumped over another person in the group. Smithy scooped Kerry up into his arms and waved goodnight to everybody before carrying her up the stairs to their room. Dan had moved quickly so he got to Beth before Lewis did and he too had picked her up, still sleeping in his arms and he made his way over towards the girl's cabin, her head lolling against his shoulder.

Will was debating whether or not to do the same to Emma but he realised that she'd probably not appreciate it as it wasn't really that dignified so he shook her gently awake and then pulled her up by the hand and walked her back across to her cabin. She rubbed the sleep blearily out of her eyes as she reached the cabin door and put her arms around Will briefly before pulling away and running a hand distractedly through her hair, her cheeks had a faint blush about them.

When she walked through into her Beth and Sally's room it was to find Sally standing with her back to the beds, brushing her hair in the mirror and then Emma saw why. Dan had laid Beth down on the bed and was quickly changing her into the pyjamas left out of her pillow. He tucked her under the covers and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before becoming aware of the stares on his back and he rushed out of the cabin without a backward glance.

Sally and Emma turned to face each other when they were lying in their beds. "He soooo has a crush on Beth." Sally said making Emma giggle. "You should have seen the look he gave Lewis when he'd made a move to go and pick her up!" She added a slight tinge of jealousy in her voice which Emma picked up on but chose not to mention.

"Yeah well as long as she keeps her hands off Will." Emma said before she could think about what she was doing.

"What?" Sally said confused but Emma had already turned over and was pretending to be asleep so Sally let it drop, thinking that she'd have it out of her soon enough.

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:D Reviews bring more chapters xxxpip


	3. Victory Dances and Celebrations

Will sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking across to the alarm clock on the bedside table as he did so. He'd only just realised that he wasn't at home when he noticed that the alarm clock was missing, there were two extra beds in the room and that two people he knew from work were sleeping in those beds! He hit the top of the alarm clock which he eventually found and it made a loud beeping noise so both Phil and Diane rolled themselves over, eyes still tightly shut and both fumbling for an alarm clock which was nowhere near them.

When the noise stopped Diane closed her eyes again but by this time her duvet was half off the bed so Will shrieked. "Oh my god Diane cover yourself up!" Which made her sit up immediately and grab the duvet from around her. She then looked down to see her pyjamas staring right back up at her.

"Got ya!" Will grinned from the other side of the room. Diane just shot him a look and then disappeared quickly into the bathroom which left both Will and Phil moaning for fifteen minutes that they needed the toilet while they listened to Diane hum in the shower and then blow dry her hair excessively.

When she emerged from the bathroom the two boys ambushed her with pillows intent on messing up her hair but her old army training served her well and both of them hobbled off muttering to themselves a few minutes later. Diane dusted her hands together and set about making her bed and by the time that both Will and Phil were finished in the bathroom she was lying back on her pillows reading a book quite peacefully.

Smithy meanwhile woke to the sensation of a warm body pressed tight up against his own. Looking down he saw that it was Kerry's blonde hair that was tickling his neck and he brushed it gently aside waking her. She sat up on one elbow and looked at him in confusion. "We didn't…you know last night did we?" She asked him, her voice all croaky.

"I don't think so…I'd probably have remembered it. Still does it matter?" Smithy replied flirtatiously. Kerry didn't reply but she leant up and kissed him softly, he deepened the kiss, pushing her back onto the bed when they heard a knock at the door and separated quickly. Smithy grabbed the sheet and wrapped it round himself while Kerry snuggled further underneath the duvet.

Gina was standing at the door smirking at Smithy who still looked very flustered. "What's the view like from your room?" She asked annoyingly as Smithy hovered in the doorway, trying to keep Gina from seeing inside.

"Oh you know…okayish." He replied trying to get her to leave as quickly as possible seeing as he was only wearing the sheet that was wrapped very firmly round him.

"You've probably got things to be…doing…I'll see you at breakfast." She said teasingly as Smithy blushed and shut the door in her face. Leaning against it heavily he turned to see Kerry laughing at him from the bed. He shrugged off the sheet and wandered back to her.

"Don't know what you're laughing at." He said in a mock huff before sitting on Kerry and proceeding to kiss her passionately.

After breakfast they all walked down to the main cabin which they'd spent time in last night and took up their old positions on beanbags or armchairs which were still dotted around haphazardly. Frankie and Sascha handed out booklets and sheets with notes scribbled all over them. "You've got a bit of a tough day ahead of you so we need you to be prepared to listen. You need to be trained to handle the kids, anything they throw at you will have to be dealt with calmly and effectively otherwise they might think they can get away with it. We're not here to give punishment but we must enforce ordinary rules such as no swearing in front of the younger children and no fighting. Let's crack on with it then shall we?" Frankie said cheerfully as the other officers gulped.

After an hour of being told how to deal with a stroppy teenager who just really has to hit something, they moved onto tackling kids with ADHD, disabilities and what to do if they came across one of the children with alcohol or drugs. All in all the officers found it quite draining to take in so much information but it was important that they listened to it all, as they were constantly reminded.

They took a long break where the team went outside and relaxed on the steps out front of the cabin. "I'm so tired." Emma said softly as she rested her head on Will's shoulder.

"It's only eleven in the morning!" He replied grinning down at her. "But I'll take you to bed anyway if you want it." He added under his breath so only she could hear him.

"Will!" Emma smirked and moved away from him slightly. Thankfully the others had chosen that moment to return to the cabin so they weren't overheard. They followed the rest of them back inside and said no more about it.

"Okay so you'll be split into three groups and allocated a set amount of children to look after during the activities which include water sports, dance, drama, athletics, ball games, film club, tubing and swimming." Sascha announced to the group when they were settled again.

"So who's in which group?" Dan asked looking over at Beth hopefully.

"Dan isn't it?" Sascha asked standing up and smiling at him. "The groups were chosen before you lot got here, based on skills and experience and the likes. So the first group is made up of Smithy, Gina, Will and Emma. Group two has Jack, Sam, Phil and Diane and the last has Beth, Sally, Dan, Lewis and Kerry. There we go, go and sit in your groups now and we'll hand you out the list of children you're getting." She continued.

Emma walked across to sit by Smithy and Gina who were settled on one of the more comfortable sofas and as such were not prepared to move. Emma hovered in front of them, aware of the tension that her and Gina usually caused after the incident with the bullying accusation. Will however plonked himself in the available space between the two of them and pulled Emma down onto his knee, smiling reassuringly at her and greeting Smithy and Gina.

They were handed a list of names and Will began to read softly. "Ashleigh, Martin, Stacey, Peter, Tanya, Florence, Steven, Terry, Keeley." Emma turned round sharply and looked at the piece of paper. "Keeley Tate…that's the one whose boyfriend we arrested for selling alcohol to minors for last year." Emma said after a moments thought.

"Oh yeah…charmer of a kid she was." Will said smirking. "I distinctly remember her saying something like, "Get off me you cow!" To you when we took her down the station. Delightful child she really was."

Emma elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up and then she took another look at her booklet which had snippets of information on each child. "It's funny don't you think that it doesn't tell you what each kid's here for…just things like where they go to school, what their favourite colour is and how they don't like to eat broccoli!" Emma remarked as she read it through.

"Yes Emma, we thought we'd leave that information out this year. That way the children can choose to tell you their reasons if they wish but their past won't be widely known unless absolutely necessary. If you feel that it would be helpful to know about the background of any children in your group once they arrive then don't hesitate to ask myself of Frankie and we'll give you their details." Sascha said, answering Emma's question to a tee.

They were given lunch and sat around in their groups, discussing the children, the activities and what it was going to be like for the next two weeks! "Some of these kids don't sound too bad…I mean Keeley will probably be a bit of a handful but the others. I mean how much trouble can a seven year old be?" Emma asked naively.

Gina, Smithy and Will all snorted into their cups of coffee. "Hmmm how can I answer this correctly…stuff it, a seven year old can be the devil himself. Age doesn't come into it." Smithy said shuddering.

"You can all spend the rest of the day here if you wish…but we're done with you so please yourselves." Frankie said, sticking his head through from the kitchen.

Dan, Smithy, Will, Beth, Sally, Sam and Diane all decided to go off and explore the rest of the grounds which they hadn't covered already but the others all continued to lounge about in the main cabin, watching telly and reading books. Eventually the remaining six dragged themselves back up to their own cabin to relax in peace but when they got there they found it too much of a bore and started to play a game of hide and seek.

Emma and Kerry peeked out of the large laundry basket at the bottom of the stairs as Lewis prowled past them, in search of finding the three that had eluded him for twenty minutes! Gina and Jack were already sitting in the dining room again having been caught easily due to their unimaginative hiding places.

A giggle came from under the pile of coats and shoes in the hallway and Lewis pounced, bringing Phil up by the ear triumphantly. Emma and Kerry shot upwards and emerged from the laundry shouting, "We won! We won!" and doing a little victory dance in celebration.

'The explorers' returned from their travels and trailed into the cabin just in time for the next game to begin. "So we're all playing hide and seek?" Smithy asked in disbelief. "How old are we? Four?"

"Shut it DALE!" Kerry said mockingly as she hugged him from behind. "Don't be such a spoilsport."

As punishment for his lack of enthusiasm for the game they made him 'it' and the others began racing around trying to find hiding places while he counted to 100. There was a lot of shoving and "Oi, I was here first!" Before the cabin quieted down.

Emma leant back slightly but hunched forwards again when she felt Smithy's suitcase dig into her back. Somebody opened the doors of the wardrobe and tripped right over her before landing with a muffled thump next to her. Emma's wrist creaked and a few tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes. She felt a warm hand on the side of her head, feeling gently to see who it was. The hand rested on her cheek and stroked it, gently wiping away the tears. "Emma?" Will's voice whispered to her. "Emma I'm sorry did I hurt you?"

She just sniffed in reply. "What hurts honey?" He asked in the same caring tone.

"It's…it's my wrist…it creaked and it doesn't feel great." Emma mumbled and she smiled as she felt Will take her hand in his and begin to rub it gently. At that exact moment Smithy opened the wardrobe doors wide and raised one eyebrow comically.

They got quickly to their feet and shared one last look before they followed Smithy from the room and back down the stairs. Again Gina and Jack had already been caught (not that they'd made much of an effort to hide themselves in the first place) and they took one look at Emma's wrist before sending Will packing to find her some bandages and ice.

Emma leant against the units in the kitchen and tried to lift herself up onto them but was unsuccessful due to the amount of pain her wrist was in. Will returned from the outside freezer with the first aid kit and a bag of ice chips. He took one look at her and dumped the rest of the things on the counter, reaching out and lifting her onto the worktops. "Here hold this a minute sweetheart while I cut the bandages." Will said as he handed her the ice to wrap round her wrist.

"Ta." She replied, the fresh tears still shining in her eyes.

"Okay it's ready now." Will murmured as he removed the ice and began to wrap the soft bandages round Emma's swollen wrist. He took out the tape and bound the bandages to her tightly before kissing it lightly and looking up at her with sad eyes.

"It's just a swollen wrist Will, I'm not dying." Emma joked.

"But…but I made you hurt, I made you cry." Will said reaching across to the first aid kit and grabbing at the bottle of pain medication, he knew that Emma always had problems swallowing tablets. He spooned out some of the medication and held it out to her. She sat licking the spoon for a while as he just waited and watched her. The she slid off the units and as she passed him she pressed a sticky kiss to his cheek, intentionally getting the gooey medicine all over him and she giggled as she dodged past him and into the living room again.

"Cheeky madam!" He yelled following her into the room and grabbing her round the middle.

"William! Will you quit feeling up Emma please." Gina called making the pair blush and exchange an embarrassed look before they separated.

Sam and Phil came wandering into the room together having just been caught and they sat down looking interestedly at Emma and Will. Sam yawned. "I think I might head off to bed soon, I'm shattered and the kids haven't even arrived yet." She said stretching her arms above her head.

"Yeah I might join you." Phil said and group let out a splutter of a laugh. "No…I didn't mean it like that!" Phil exclaimed realising what they thought he'd meant. "I meant like I'm going to go to my own bed soon." He tried again but failed to make the team stop giggling.

"Well I think that everybody should go to bed soon because those delightful children are arriving tomorrow and we have duties to attend to in the morning before they arrive so we need to be up bright and early and ready for the hard day's work." Jack said reminding everybody firmly that it was not some jolly holiday with friends once again.

They grumbled and groaned that they hadn't had a bedtime since they were kids themselves but none could deny that as soon as their pyjamas were on and they'd crawled into bed that they were asleep before their head hit the pillow.

* * *

Please continue reviewing...if I get 10 reviews by Sunday then I'll update the next chapter then...otherwise...it may be a few more days because I like to be mean :D I promise to Emzies that I will be up-to-date to where she's read up to by the time she gets home. So I've got some more writing to be getting on with lol. Review people it makes me giggle and feel happy inside when I see the nice little messages waiting in my inbox for me :D xxxxxxxpippa 


	4. The New Arrivals

**Thanks to my wonderful reviewers (and to my absent one who I hope is coming back soon because I miss all of our random chats :P and bombarding her bebo with comments is only fun to a certain extent) To those who reviewed the last chapter I have a lot of thanks for :D All of you guys made me smile and want to update as soon as possible. After this update...the next one will be mid week next week because that will be the last in my stash of prestored writing :S I'll have to get cracking :P Anyway thanks to: Kelly, Dannii, Laura (SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR) Redtheblue (sorry I don't know your name :S) Amy, Gemz and Becky :D thanks guys and enjoy this chapter.**

Sam stretched and sat up looking around her. Gina was still fast asleep so she slipped silently from the room and walked down the corridor to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of orange juice. She took it out onto the patio steps outside and watched and sky at the base of the slope grow lighter and lighter as the sun rose higher in the sky. Sam felt someone sit down next to her and to her surprise she turned to find Phil staring back at her, also clutching a glass of OJ. "What you doing up so early?" She asked, her face screwed up in confusion.

"I heard someone moving about so I thought I'd come out and join them, it's a bonus that it's you though." He replied sweetly as he slid closer to her along the step.

Their little 'moment' was ruined however by the imminent arrival of Jack and Sally from the other cabins, both of which were also early risers. Once everyone had arrived in the cabin they sat down to breakfast which was like a military operation in itself. They had to make a trip down to Frankie and Sascha's cabin to get another toaster. Considering that there were 13 of them and everybody wanted toast, they were popping back and forth to the little kitchen every few minutes to get the next batch of fresh toast.

"It's like home again!" Sally joked, gaining herself a look from everyone at the table. "Oh um I'm one of six…there was never enough room to cook all of our food at once, let alone enough room round the little table in the kitchen!" She added seeing her colleagues' confusion.

After breakfast they all picked up the mops, buckets and broom from the supply hut and made their way to the children's cabins to begin the cleaning. Dan slid about on the floor trying to look under the beds to check for things that were previously left behind or other objects that may have accumulated. Beth folded her arms across her chest and sighed grumpily.

"S'up?" Dan asked her as he got to his feet.

"I can't reach the top of the cupboard…there's something stuck up there and I can't get to it!" She said huffily, pointing up at the snatch of pink sticking out over the ledge.

"I'll give you a hand…here." Dan replied, stooping and getting her to sit on one of his shoulders before he stood up again and moved towards the cupboard where she was just the right height to reach the pink fluffy elephant which had gotten caught up there.

Beth jumped down from Dan's shoulder and read the little tag attached to its ear. 'To our little princess we love you sweetheart xxMummy and Daddy.' She read aloud in a soft voice. "Awww this is such a shame…one of the little kids from the last camp must have lost her teddy." She added looking up into Dan's big brown eyes.

They walked down to the main cabin once all the other cleaning was done and Beth approached Sascha. "We found this on our clearout…do you know who it belongs to? It doesn't have a name on it." Beth asked holding out the elephant.

"Oh! Oh this is wonderful thank you Beth. This is Pinkie…she belonged to a little girl called Susie Michaels. Her parents died in a joint suicide…this was what they left for her. She was absolutely devastated when she lost her teddy a few months ago. She lives in Canley…tell you what. When you return why don't you take it back to her, I'm sure she'd love that." Sascha said, a smile spreading across her weather-beaten face.

Beth returned to Dan's side looking very pleased with herself but this was knocked slightly by the sight of a car approaching and the sound of a screaming child coming from within. "I don't want to go to camp! I promise I'll be good. Don't leave me here!" A little boy screamed, hammering his fists into the stomach of a care worker.

He was picked up and carried across to the waiting group of adults. "This is Peter Jackson." The care worker introduced the still screaming child.

"Why don't you come with me?" Lewis asked the boy holding out his hand for him. The kid suddenly turned shy and stopped shrieking, turning his head into the care workers jumper. "I'm nice, honest." Lewis tried again, still holding out his hand.

Reluctantly the little boy let go of his care worker and followed Lewis towards the recreation hall where the children would be assembling. After this less than ideal arrival the group didn't have long to dwell upon it before three more children arrived, each with a completely different style about them.

"Bye Mum!" A girl shouted to her mother before rushing back and giving her an extra hug. She then walked directly over to Emma and smiled up at her. "I'm Stacey…do you need any help with any little ones?" She asked eagerly.

"Not yet but I'm sure you'd be a great help when more of them arrive. You can stick around for a little bit if you want and help us take them over to the hall when they come." Emma replied grinning back down at the helpful teen.

The other two were less co-operative and had to be dragged across the grounds to the hall quite forcefully by Diane. "Tyler and Megan." Their carer said rolling his eyes. "Good luck with those two!"

Twenty minutes later Emma returned to the car park to see Stacey standing chatting happily with another girl and holding onto the hands of two adorable little children who Emma guessed couldn't be anything but identical twins.

Stacey approached her with a big smile plastered over her face. "Hi Emma…this is Ashleigh." Stacey said introducing the older girl who looked about ten or eleven and then she gestured to the twins. "Holly and Rowen." She said giggling as the little girls threw themselves upon Emma, each hugging a leg.

"Okay lets get you lot across to the hall…we're going to play some games in there to get to know each other in a bit I think." Emma said tickling each of the twins in turn and then taking their hands and leading them over to the large building that was separated from the main cabin.

When Emma arrived back at the hall, all hell had broken loose! The kids were running riot and Diane and Lewis were standing in the middle looking quite frankly helpless. Emma strode into the middle of the room and climbed up on top of the pool table. "QUIET!" She shouted getting the attention of everyone. "That's better." She added once they'd settled down. "Now would everyone please sit down where you are. We need to get everything in order or we'll be here all night." She continued.

Two girls stopped fighting and let go of each other's hair. "Good." Emma said sighing. "The bags are being taken to the cabins and when Frankie and Sascha return we'll be starting some activities. In the meantime please talk quietly to the people near you." She said deciding that the best plan of action was to wait for the camp organisers to return and sort things out in their own way.

The other team members arrived shortly after Emma's outburst to find the children all sitting quietly, smiling and chatting. Emma, Diane and Lewis were dotted about, mixing with the children and keeping them in check.

After a few minutes explanation they set about making name badges for themselves which Sam was sure was just an excuse to keep the busy for a few more minutes. In no time at all there was coloured card, glue and felt tip pen everywhere. All of the staff had their own badges as well, none of whom had made them themselves. They were sprawled out making them for each other much like the children around them. Will sat up triumphantly and smiled as he pinned Emma's badge through her t-shirt. She looked down to see the glittery letters 'EMZ' staring back up at her. Phil and Diane had traded badges and were looking extremely pleased with themselves, neither realising that they were wearing the wrong one!

They then all sat in a circle and a toy was passed around so only one person could speak at a time. They introduced themselves to the group and told them however little or much they wanted about their lives. "I'm Sarah-Louise." A little girl said shyly. "And I like dancing." She added, locking eyes with Phil.

The conversation passed over some of the adults. "I'm Smithy and I was in the army." He said, gaining some mildly impressed looks off some of the younger lads.

Finally a hard looking girl stood up. "I'm Tanya, I'm moody, my parents didn't love me and I have behaviour problems." She said defiantly.

"Thank you for your honesty Tanya and I'm glad we can all share things." Frankie said getting to his feet. "For the next two week you lot are here to have fun. We want you to be safe and happy so please abide by the rules. The adults here aren't being paid to look after you; they have volunteered. Some of you may recognise them as the police officers from Sun Hill Station in Canley." He added seeing a fleeting look of recognition pass over a few faces.

"Okay so we're going to split you up into three groups and you'll be in these for most of the activities you'll take part in. Your group has team leaders and they are who you should go to with any problems you have." Sascha said smiling across at her husband. "Team one's leaders are Gina, Smithy, Emma and Will and their children are Ashleigh, Martin, Stacey, Peter, Tanya, Florence, Steven, Terry and Keeley."

"Come on troops." Smithy said and a few of them saluted jokingly before following them over to a corner of the room.

"Jack, Sam, Phil and Diane have Toby, Fred, Sarah-Louise, Andy, Katy, Megan and Jason. Last but not least is team three so can Holly, Rowen, Tyler, Robyn, Ben, David, Lee and Alisa go and join Beth, Sally, Dan, Lewis and Kerry over there." Frankie said taking over.

In Will's group there was one kid who was looking particularly down so he went and sat next to him. "Cheer up chum, we're not that bad really." He joked nudging his shoulder. The little boy turned to face him and Will saw tears in his eyes.

"It's…it's my Mum. See I'm a young carer…I haven't been away well ever." The boy said sniffing loudly. "I…I'm worried about her. What if Justine doesn't take good care of her?" He continued, working himself up into a state.

"Look mate they wouldn't have let you come if they didn't know how to look after your Mum. I'm sure Justine will do a great job. Your Mum wouldn't want you moping about would she? Think of how proud she'll be when you come back home and tell her about all the cool things you did while you were away." Will said encouragingly.

"Thanks Will…I'm Steven." The boy said drying his tears and smiling up at Will in admiration.

"Come on then mate, let's go join the rest of the group." Will said steering Steven back over to the mob.

Meanwhile Gina had already broken up a fight between Keeley and Tanya and both were shooting stony glances at her. "Right now both of you. Either you sit down and be civil to each other or we'll let you take this outside." Gina said warningly. Tanya flopped down and looked up at Gina as if she was God.

"But…but nobody tells me what to do." She said in confusion.

"You clearly haven't come across me before then sunshine." Gina said turning away and grinning at Emma who was standing watching, a smile etched on her face.

After dinner the kids were taken up to their cabins where their luggage was ready and waiting for them. Jack, Dan and Lewis stood looking rather puzzled as the boys ran about their cabin swapping beds every few minutes until they finally had weighed up all the pros and cons of each one. The boys unpacked and while they did there was a lot of shouting and jeering, laughing and mucking about.

In the girl's cabin however the atmosphere was much more subdued and a few of the girls were on the verge of tears as they brought out things from their bags which reminded them of home. Emma, Beth and Sally left them to it for a short while until they heard it quieten down even more and Emma drew a big bag of sweeties out from under her bed. Seeing Sally's raised eyebrows she turned and whispered 'supplies' over her shoulder and then made her way through into the main body of the cabin.

"Does everybody want a sweetie?" Emma asked them cheerfully and when they all looked up and nodded she continued. "Why don't we all get into our pyjamas and then we can have our sweets." She suggested before turning back to Beth and Sally. "That way if they fall asleep there won't be so much hassle." Despite the large amount of energy they were displaying it was pretty late for a few of them, the younger ones in particular.

They emerged a few minutes later, Emma having finally managed to blag a pair of pyjamas off Sally who was roughly the same size as her and who had taken spares. They dragged the duvets off the beds and wrapped themselves in them as they curled up on the rug and beanbags. Emma handed out the sweets and they sat munching for several minutes, the atmosphere becoming friendlier by the minute.

Stacey and Tanya were busy discussing the boys at the camp until Sally started lugging in. "He's well fit." She heard one say and then blush.

"Who's fit?" Sally asked grinning at the pair of them.

"Oh um…Fred…the blonde one in Phil's group." Stacey said blushing as she admitted it to Sally who nodded and laughed.

Keeley leant across and pointed out a word to Megan in her letter that she was already writing to the care home. "It's spelt F-R-I-E-N-D-S Meg." She said quietly and to Emma's surprise the little girl who had displayed so much attitude before nodded and smiled adoringly up at Keeley. Emma caught her eye and saw Keeley blush slightly and turn away again.

Emma felt something hit her feet and as she looked down at her slippers she saw a little blonde hair rested across them. Picking up the girl she took a quick look at her. It was the youngest of them all, a little one called Florence who had fallen asleep. Cuddling her close Emma ruffled her hair and let her snuggle into her.

"Look…Florence has fallen asleep!" Ashleigh said pointing at the sleeping child in Emma's arms. "We should probably go to bed now too! It's after ten." She said responsibly.

Emma smiled and the others all nodded reluctantly before the crawled away into their own beds. Emma's lifted Florence up and carried her over to her bed, tucking her in under the covers and kissing her lightly on the forehead before turning out the big light and saying goodnight to the other girls.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Emma asked yawning as she crawled into her own bed a few minutes later.

"They're quite well behaved really. I thought that the older ones would be a handful…Tanya seems like bit of a loose cannon but I'm sure Gina will pull her into line." Sally replied turning over the face the other two, Beth was sat on the end of Emma's bed so she could be a part of the conversation.

"I think it's gonna be great." Beth said dreamily as her thoughts turned to Dan.

"Yeah and we all know why." Emma murmured earning a slap on the arm from Beth. "You can do that all you want but we all know you've got a crush on Dan Beth!" She continued making her young friend blush furiously.

"Yeah but you fancy the pants off Will so we're even." Beth retorted, making it Emma's turn to blush and deny it profusely even though it was obvious she really did like him.

"You were with him before though weren't you Em?" Sally asked nosily. "Lewis told me that you'd caused some sort of scandal before you were married or something. Like the first time Matt tried to punch Will or something!"

Emma murmured something inaudible and turned her face into the pillow. The blush rising on her neck still visible to the other two who were now staring intently at her back. "How far _did _you go with him?" Sally asked pressingly but Emma wouldn't reply so they both wriggled under the covers, more determined than even to find out what had happened between the pair.


	5. No Comment

**Thanks so much to Becky, Carly, Laura and Lynsey I love you guys :P You made me smile...and to some extent get round to finish off this chapter :D Ta for it, it's much appreciated.**

Beth rolled over and turned her alarm clock to face her. She screwed up her face at the time displayed and rested her head back on her pillow. It wasn't the clock that had woken her considering that it was about five hours too early to even begin thinking about getting up, but something had definitely woken her. It was still dark outside and the only others in the room were Sally and Emma, like it should be. Then she heard it, the noise that had woken her up.

Slowly, cautiously she made her way over to the door and eased it gently open so as not to wake any of the others. Peering around in the semi darkness she saw a few people huddled round one of the beds, all whispering softly and then there was another noise, the sound of faint hiccups and silenced sobs. Parting the small crowd Beth saw that Sarah-Louise was lying curled up in the middle of her bed sobbing helplessly. Beth sent the other girls back to their beds and bent down next to the little girl.

"What's up Little Miss?" Beth asked softly, looking up at Sarah-Louise.

"I…I had another n…nightmare…I'm sorry." She wailed, curling herself in even tighter.

"I'm not mad at you sweetheart…we all have bad dreams now and then. It's nothing to be sorry for. Do you feel better now?" She asked scooping the little girl into her arms when she shook her head. Beth carried her outside, aware that the other children were still listening to every word they exchanged.

Beth sat down with Sarah-Lou on her knee and she cuddled her in tight. "It's always the same dream." She said quietly. "M…Martin and Hannah hit me…and then it goes dark when…when they shut me in the cupboard because I scream…I don't want to go back there. Please don't send me back there!" She cried, trying to fight off Beth who looked around in surprise.

"I'm not going to do anything toots, why don't you tell me more about it. Martin and Hannah…are they your foster carers?" Beth asked feeling more unqualified than ever.

"Yes…but no…they used to be. I got taken away because they were bad to me." Sarah mumbled into Beth's chest.

"So where don't you want to go back to?" Beth asked in confusion.

"To the hospital. My next care home…they sent me to the hospital because I had my bad dreams. They said I was a crazy person…that they couldn't cope with me and I was dangerous…I never did nothing wrong. I just screamed sometimes." Sarah said trying to reassure herself. "They left me there…I didn't like it. The mad people yelled all the time…they scared me." She whimpered.

"It's all right honey…I won't let them send you back to the hospital. You just come and find me if you have another bad dream. I'll make it all better." Beth said kindly as she got to her feet again, Sarah-Louise still in her arms.

As she passed Robyn's bed she felt something tug at her pyjama bottom and looked down to see Robyn's little face turned up to hers. "I'll look after Sarah-Lou." She said gently and Beth smiled back nodding. She continued towards Sarah's bed and tucked her back up, making sure she was comfortable before returning exhausted to her own bed.

The next morning Beth was woken as a pillow hit her face. "Get up sleepy, we've been up for yonks!" Emma giggled as Beth emerged looking rather worse for wear.

"Yeah well unlike you two I didn't have an uninterrupted nights sleep!" She muttered grumpily earning herself two sets of stares. "No! Not like that! Sarah-Louise had a nightmare and she woke up crying I had to make sure she was okay and got back to bed." Beth explained softly. "She worries me a bit actually…I mean I knew some of the kids here had been treated badly in the past and had some awful things happen to them but not as bad a her. I mean the poor kid's a mess! She didn't tell me a lot but her first set of foster parents abused her and then her care home put her into a mental unit in a hospital because of the nightmares. They made out that she was crazy and unstable or something. She's god damn terrified of the place and of the thought of going back there. I think for her own sake I should find out a little more from Sascha and Frankie." Beth mused.

Sally and Emma bit their lips worriedly. They had had no idea of the horrors in some of the children's pasts either. Some things they couldn't even begin to imagine.

Before they could brood on anything further Beth dragged them off towards the shower block and they emerged fifteen minutes later feeling quite refreshed, standing sharing a hair dryer between the three of them!

They then proceeded to get the kids up and dressed before trailing down to the main cabin for breakfast with all twelve girls in tow. After having chomped their way through an extraordinary amount of toast and cereal the children sat back quietly and turned to look at Frankie and Sascha who had just gotten to their feet. "Now we've all been fed and watered I'm sure you're anxious to get off so I'll give each group their activity for the day and then you can disappear." Sascha said smiling at the sea of faces before her.

"Yes group one shall be doing swimming today so if Emma, Will, Gina and Smithy can get their kids to collect their swimming stuff and make their way to the indoor pool that would be just dandy. Group two shall be playing ball sports on the big field today and group three will be occupying the dance studio." Frankie said taking over.

Ten minutes later and after much scrambling to get their swimming costumes on and then finally being allowed in the pool, a few of them realised that the younger ones couldn't swim! Florence was stood dawdling by the steps, her face pale and a twisted expression lining her brows. "Are you scared Flo?" Keeley asked softly as she swam over and stood in front of the little girl who nodded back shyly.

"Why don't I teach you to swim, I promise I'll be careful and you won't sink. If you want to get out then you can just tell me and I'll put you back at the side as soon as possible." Keeley reassured her as she held out her arms for Florence to jump into.

"Um okay…I um I've never been swimming before. D…Daddy never took me." She said, her bottom lip quivering slightly.

"That's okay honey, just hop in and I'll show you how." Keeley said, still holding her arms out patiently.

Florence launched herself off the side and landed with a soft splash right next to Keeley who gently twisted her round so she was lying flat in the water with a hand on both her back and front. She tilted her chin up and Keeley showed her how to paddle her arms. Emma noticed this and positioned herself at the other end of the pool.

When Keeley had reached Emma and back several times Florence had gained a lot more confidence so Keeley stopped her half way between Emma and the other side of the pool. "Do you think you can swim to Emma all by yourself…we're not that far away so if you need help we'll be there in two ticks!" Keeley asked her.

"Okay…I think I might manage it." Florence replied hopefully as she turned back to face Emma. She then pushed off against Keeley and began to swim slowly but steadily in the general direction of where Emma was.

"Come on…you're almost there." Emma said encouragingly. "Wow! Aren't you a clever girl." She added as Florence swam into her arms, a huge grin spread across her face.

Will and Gina sat in the shallow end watching the children splash about and dive off the side for a while. Then Will felt Gina nudge him in the side. "Well would you look at that, little Miss has a heart after all!" She remarked raising an eyebrow.

"Which one…Keeley or Emma?" Will said laughing slightly.

"Both I suppose…but I was on about Emma. You don't see that side to her often do you?" Gina murmured softly, a grin still playing on her lips as she watched Emma, Keeley and the little girl mess about in the shallow water.

"Come off it, surely you've seen her like that before…I mean like with the victims and stuff. She's really caring." Will said defensively.

"Oh yeah I forgot that you were part of the 'I love Emma' fan club!" Gina said sarcastically and Will shot her the evils. "Okay fine so I've seen it once or twice…but are you serious…is she like that normally?" Gina asked intrigued.

"Yeah mostly…I mean sometimes she can be a bit of a bitch but I mean most girls are like that. She's had a hard time, especially since splitting with Matt. It took her ages to be able to talk to anyone about it, you don't know how many times she turned up at mine with nowhere else to go, just crying her eyes out. She was confused I mean he'd been abusing her for months before it ended. The guy who proposed to her wasn't the one she ended up marrying." Will said compassionately.

Gina tilted her head to the side. "I never really thought about that." She replied regretfully.

"Yeah well she wouldn't appreciate me telling you this so keep it to yourself right." He added looking back over to where Emma was standing, having a water fight with Keeley. Just then Smithy caught the attention of the rest of the group as he dived in from one end of the pool and swam at lightning speed towards the shallow end.

"Didn't know you were much of a swimmer Smithy?" Gina called and he stood up, red faced.

"Uh yeah…I was a lifeguard when I was sixteen." He admitted rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

The others all nodded interestedly but weren't treated to an explanation as he managed to escape to the other end of the pool where some of the kids had started up a game of water volleyball which he joined, leaving the others standing puzzled at the opposite end.

Meanwhile Jack and Diane were standing smirking as Sam and Phil rolled around on the ground together play fighting while trying to wrestle the ball from each other. "But it's my turn to take the corner." Sam squealed as Phil tickled her.

"Yeah but you're pants at taking corners, we'll just lose it again. Let me try it at least I have a chance of getting it in the net. I mean you're short…you'll never manage it toots." Phil said patronisingly as he rolled them over so he was pinning her down.

"Oww!" He shrieked as she sank her teeth into his arm. "Sam! That hurts!" He added taking his hands off her wrists momentarily to examine his wounds.

"Serves you right. Nobody calls me 'toots' and gets away with it." She said taking her chance and running away with the ball, leaving Phil sitting rubbing his arm with a pout on his face.

In the dance studio most of Sally's group were standing against the wall, looking around self-consciously and not doing much. Sally walked over to the sound system in the corner and put on some music for them to warm up to. After stretching and carefully watching what everybody else in the room was doing, a few of the kids began to show off what they could do. One kid, Ben, caught their attention though.

He did a few tricky footwork steps and then went into a back handspring. A few of the other children gasped and the adults looking around at each other in admiration for the kid. Lewis smiled and moved forwards, he too began to dance and then they began some sort of competition. They responded to challenges from the other and bounced off each other's choreography. Eventually they both collapsed out of breath at the side of the studio to tumultuous applause. "Nice one mate." Lewis said, reaching out to high five Ben.

"Not bad yourself." He grinned back cheekily.

Dan stepped towards Beth. "Care to dance Madame?" He asked kissing her hand and making her giggle. He swept her into the middle of the studio and placed a hand around her waist. Sally smirked as she hit shuffle on the CD player and some swing music came over the speakers.

"Kaching." Beth whispered to herself. Swing was the type of dancing that she'd loved best when she used to train every week as a teenager. They twisted and turned and bounced from one side of the room to the other. Dan was surprisingly good at the dance as well, little did she know that he too had been a dancer as a child but had given it up due to the horrific bullying which had come with it, that part of the bargain he had not imagined when he'd taken up the sport at the young age of four.

They turned to face their growing audience and took a shy bow before waltzing back to Sally, Lewis and Kerry who were standing hands on hips smirking at them. "Oh yes…there are more hidden talents than reach the surface." Beth said to Lewis who had spread his hands in question of her previously unseen dancing abilities.

Just then they became aware that Robyn and Alisa were locked head to head in verbal combat. "Just because you think you're so great doesn't mean you can shove into me and expect to get away with it you stupid cow." Alisa yelled, launching herself at a shaking Robyn.

"That's quite enough don't you think." Dan said pulling them apart and giving each of them a warning glare. They stomped off in different directions and sat at either end of the studio, quite content to give each other the evils for the rest of the activity time.

Kerry sauntered across to where Alisa was sitting while Dan did the same to Robyn. "You quite finished sulking?" Kerry said softly as she slid down the wall next to the teen with a face like thunder.

"I'm not sulking…I'm just…just…well sulking." Alisa admitted blushing. "She started it! Robyn bashed into me and didn't even apologise. I mean I don't have to take that from anyone." She added defensively.

"Okay…I believe you." Kerry said looking across at her.

"You do?" Alisa replied incredulously. "I mean thanks…not many people…you know…stick up for me, least of all coppers."

"Yeah well you didn't do anything really wrong. I mean even though you didn't start it possibly just apologising to Robyn would be a good thing to do and before you ask yes we'll get an apology from her as well." Kerry said soothingly.

"Okay…I uh…I don't do it much…what I just go over there and say sorry. Not with attitude or anything though right." Alisa said looking suddenly very worried.

"Yeah that's right. Just go over and say you're sorry for calling her names and lunging at her." Kerry smiled reassuringly.

Alisa walked slowly over towards Dan and Robyn. "Um…hi." She said nervously. "I…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for you know…yellin' at you and well if Dan hadn't stopped me I'd probably have hit you an' that…so well yeah I'm really sorry."

"That's okay…I'm sorry for bumping into you. I should have apologised, I 'm sorry I didn't do it earlier." Robyn said timidly. "Friends?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah…I'd like that." Alisa said offering a hand to help pull Robyn up with which she accepted. "I think we're going to the main hall soon for lunch. God knows what the food will be like though…although it beats my Dad's cooking any day."

With that the two girls walked off chatting and laughing together like old mates and Kerry and Dan stood back shaking their heads and laughing in disbelief. "So the girl has a decent streak…all it took was a little prompting." Dan muttered in shock.

Later in the evening after dinner Smithy and Diane offered to help keep the younger children amused while Beth and Dan harnessed the energies of the big ones into something non-destructive. "And then we were chasing the two bad men down a dark alley way when all of a sudden something big and black jumped out on us. It was a great big hairy…" Smithy said before Diane who saw the looks of terror on some of the little girl's faces interrupted him.

"A great big hairy cat!" Diane said loudly. "It jumped right out in front of us and Smithy tripped over it with his big clumsy feet!"

Smithy shot her a confused look and Diane gestured towards Flo, Rowen and Holly who were huddled up on one of the beanbags looking positively terrified. "Yeah well I tripped over the kitty and then we both got up and continued chasing after the nasty bad men and because Diane and I are great at running we caught them and then we got to lock them up for a long time because they'd been naughty." Smithy finished the story as quickly as possible.

"Who wants to go find a story book for us to read now?" He asked and all of the children scrambled about, desperate to find a good book for their favourite storytellers to read them.

Meanwhile Dan was playing pool with Alisa while Lee and Megan watched and made comments about the standard of play while Beth was getting on well with the other children who were crowded round the Playstation and TV all waiting for a shot and the racing game. "Third time in a row…who's next?" Martin said proudly as he beat Beth spectacularly.

"Yeah not bad for a kid with one arm…how did you get so good anyway?" David asked him as he took the controller off Beth and began to play against Martin who'd been on a winning streak for some time now.

"Me Dad bought me the new Playstation as a birthday present and well I use it quite a lot…just practise really. I mean it was easier when my other arm worked but I'm not complaining…at least I can still use my right arm." Martin said happily and Beth smiled. She was never short of being amazed at the courage and positive nature that these kids displayed.

Two hours later, all of the team members were relaxing in front of the telly in their cabin, safely tucked away from the children and their associated noise and problems. Most of them were stretched out across the sofa and beanbags watching Mock The Week and the occasional burst of laughter was the only noise that punctuated the companionable silence. Although occasionally Diane could be seen edging her beanbag further and further away from the sofa where Smithy and Kerry were spooning, much to the mingled disgruntlement and amusement of the group.

Emma yawned and stretched her arms and legs. "I'm soooo sleepy." She murmured before letting her head flop back onto Will's shoulder where it had been resting a few moments previously.

"I'll walk you back to the cabin then." Will said getting to his feet and pulling Emma up with him.

"I'm a big girl Will I can take care of myself." She grumbled to the groups general enjoyment.

"I know but…well I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Please I won't be a pest I promise." Will pleaded with her, the look of concern in his eyes pushing her over the edge.

"All right you soft lump, you can walk me back. See you tomorrow guys." Emma called over her shoulder to the others who murmured a goodnight and a few of them waved half heartedly, all exhausted from their day chasing after the children.

When he returned from walking Emma back it was to find that everyone else had trooped off to bed just after he'd left so he made his way quietly upstairs, dodging the bathroom queue and heading straight towards his room.

Diane and Phil were already in bed but neither was asleep as their eyes were still open and they blinked every few seconds. Will slid between the sheets and hugged his pillow, pretending it was Emma. "What is it with you and Emma?" Phil asked after a few minutes. "If I ever tried to do anything like that for Sam I'd get told what you were told at first but she wouldn't cave…I mean I'd probably get a slap in the face if I continued as well!"

"I care about her and she knows it…there's nothing between us though." Will said feeling his cheeks flush.

"Yeah but you want there to be." Diane said softly. "I can tell Will, I'm not stupid. I mean you're blushing now just thinking about her. She knows you like her. Why don't you make a move?"

"No comment." Will muttered which provoked a laugh from both Phil and Diane who turned over, knowing there was no way that he'd spill the beans now.

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**:D I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to all my reviewers of the last chapter, please do review this one as it will determine how quickly the next chapter is written...if there's not much interest then I'll leave it another week or so...if there is interest then you can expect an update within the next few days :P I'm not being mean...just I should probably be doing homework and dance practise...although I may be persuaded to do all three! So please please please review xxxxpippa**


	6. Splash!

**Thanks so much to Lisa, Becky, Laura and Emz for reviewing :) but what's happened to my other lovely reviewers? Have you deserted me? I'll cry if you don't come back lol xxxxxpip enjoy (esp. to the sp fans)**

Smithy stood in the middle of a large group of children, trying to work out which ones he was in charge of without looking like a complete fool. Eventually he gave up and bellowed at the top of his voice. "Um children who belong to me…err over there by the picnic bench."

Several people giggled at him and he frowned huffily. He approached Gina with a sheepish look on his face. "Smooth Sergeant…real smooth." She murmured as she began to organise the children who had gathered in front of her.

"Okay so you'll probably be wondering why all three of the groups are here today…but we're going to have a little competition. Today's activity is water sports! Now can the leaders please make sure that each child has a life jacket that fits and then arrange them into groups." Frankie said from over by the lake.

Smithy and Gina began handing out life jackets while Emma and Will zipped them up and clipped all the necessary safety attachments to the children. Smithy passed one of the lads in his group who was sitting down looking troubled. "Oi mate…what's up?" He asked stooping down next to him.

"I…I don't think I can do this…I mean my arm and all that." The kid said dispiritedly.

"Martin isn't it. Yeah well Martin why don't you and I go in a kayak together, just the two of us so I can keep and eye on you properly." Smithy replied logically. "I'll make sure you're safe and that you get a shot at it."

Martin's face lit up and he took the jacket from Smithy's hands and began to put it on. "Gina…would you mind taking an extra kid because I'm going to look after Martin. You know with his disability I think I should keep a closer eye on him." Smithy whispered discreetly in her ear.

"Don't worry we won't have to take extra kids, there's some extra help here today from the local Uni. The water sports club there has offered to take some of them off our hands so to speak." Gina whispered back.

Each of the adults took one child from their group and then the Uni students paired up with the others, only they'd overestimated the numbers and there was one extra student so Sam and Phil decided to pair up in kayak for a laugh to give the kids they'd been paired with a fair chance at actually winning!

Smithy helped Martin into the kayak and handed him his paddle. "You know what to do mate?" He asked leaning forwards and Martin nodded. "Good 'cause we're gonna win this thing." Smithy added grinning.

"Okay teams…now the aim is to follow the course and pick up as many of the flags on the way as is possible. Each team has a colour and it's the team with the most flags at the end that wins, there is also a prize for the pair who collects the most flags for their team too! On your marks, get set, go!" Frankie shouted to the groups.

Gina and the little boy Terry steamed ahead, making all the other pairs groan. Alisa and Dan were arguing over how best to keep in time, Beth and Holly were having height issues and Sam and Phil were still paddling round in circles! Each time they passed a group of flags one of them had to reach out and grab hold of whatever they could that was in their colour. Terry reached out just that little bit too far and him and Gina's boat wobbled, giving Smithy and Martin that little extra time to swoop past and grab the flag for themselves. They motored on, crossing the finish line way ahead of most of the other groups.

Smithy turned round with a huge grin on his face and high-fived Martin who was wearing a matching smile. "That was ace dude." Martin said ecstatically.

"Really was, wasn't it." Smithy replied, and he couldn't wipe the satisfied smile off his face no matter how hard he tried.

Gina and Terry drew up in the kayak next to them and shook hands like good sports. "Proud Smithy?" Gina said clocking her Sergeant's newfound happiness. He merely stuck his tongue out at her and turned round as they heard an almighty splash and some shrieking from half way across the lake.

Sam and Phil's kayak had toppled over and both of them were paddling in circles, spluttering for breath and trying to laugh at the same time. "Phil! I told you not to do it that way." Sam giggled as they swam back to the little pier. Phil spread his hands and shrugged him shoulders making her giggle even more.

"Let's go back and get changed before we catch hypothermia!" Phil joked wrapping his arm around Sam's shoulders as he could see her beginning to shiver.

"Yeah that's a good idea. We'll be back later Gina, just gonna go for a shower and get changed." Sam said, leaning across to get her friend's attention.

Meanwhile Smithy had introduced Martin to Steven and the two were sat chatting happily about the task that they'd just finished. Will nudged Smithy in the side. "It's a shame isn't it…like that these kids don't get to do whatever they want whenever they want. I mean Martin's obviously got his disability and Steven looks after his Mum 24/7 so he doesn't have many friends his own age." Will said softly.

"Awww getting soft in your old age." Smithy muttered back in reply.

"Yeah well you'd know." Will said hitting him on the shoulder before he went off to join Dan and Lewis who were beckoning him over having made a discovery which delighted all three of them. As camp staff, they were all encouraged to wear the white t-shirts with the camp insignia on them when they had visitors and because most of them had gotten wet during their task, Emma, Beth and Sally were all standing chatting, completely oblivious to the fact that their t-shirts had gone semi-see-through!

Sam walked into the bathroom back at the cabin and started up the shower. Phil knocked on the door, his towel round his waist, and opened the door a fraction. "Do you want me to grab a towel for you from your room Sam?" He asked caringly to which she nodded. When he returned he stepped into the room but stopped before he turned to go, Sam was standing with her back to him, slowly peeling her camp t-shirt off over her head. A shiver shot up Phil's spine and he saw her turn round.

Sam's eyes flicked up to connect with his and he took two quick steps forward, their bodies now just inches apart. It was as though some kind of force pushed each of them a little bit forwards as they soon found their lips touching gently together. Phil applied more pressure to Sam's lips and reached behind him to flip the lock on the door. He then replaced his hands back on her body and slid them slowly up her back, fiddling with the clasp on her bra until he'd discarded it onto the floor along with the rest of the clothes she was wearing. Sam untucked the bit of Phil's towel that was holding the rest of it up and then they stumbled backwards under the warm spray of the shower.

Phil ran his hands through Sam's hair and pressed her gently up against the wall, trailing a stream of kisses down her neck and across her collarbone. "Sam? Sam are you there? It's Diane…Phil's got the only set of keys to my room and I really need to pee!" They heard from the other side of the door and froze like rabbits caught in the headlights.

"Umm just a minute." Sam called trying to formulate a plan quickly but no thoughts came to her. She stepped out of the shower, dragging Phil with her and chucked him a towel. Then she walked confidently over to the door and unlocked it. She and Phil walked out past a stunned Diane, Phil dropping the keys into her hand as he walked by. "Not a word." Sam whispered to her and Diane shook her head slightly. Had that really just happened?

Later that evening, gossip had spread about Sam and Phil's bathroom encounter. Diane had foolishly confided in Kerry who naturally had made it her business to tell the rest of the group. Surprisingly though Sam was quite calm about it and even let Phil show her some affection in public which would have never happened before.

Jack sat down at the dinner table next to Sam and leant across to reach for the butter. "Don't let him take advantage, you know what Phil Hunter's like." He said warningly.

"Thank you for your concern Jack." Sam said bitterly. "But I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself, anyway what business is it of yours what I do in my own time?" She added shooting him a glare.

"Sam…I just don't want you to get hurt. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just well…its Phil were talking about, he's not exactly Mr Commitment is he?" Jack replied placidly.

"You don't know him like I do." Sam said softly.

"Thank god." Jack replied making her grin and giggle softly.

"Sorry for getting mad at you." She added forgivingly.

At night in the boys cabin Lewis, Jack and Dan all lay on their beds, sighing and turning over every few minutes because the kids next door were being rather noisy. Lewis and Dan crept over to the door and opened it a fraction to listen in.

"So how far have you gone?" Andy asked the other older boys in the beds next to him. He got a few muttered replies but scoffed at them all. "What so none of you have had a shag yet?" He asked incredulously.

"What's a shag?" Piped up one of the younger boys and all four of the older ones ducked under their covers and pretended to go to sleep.

"Yeah I don't think we should be talking about that should we?" Dan asked the room as a whole but got no reply as they'd all _miraculously _fallen asleep at the click of their fingers.

Chuckling to himself Dan climbed back into his bed and turned over to face Lewis as Jack was now snoring loudly – as usual – signalling that he too was asleep. "So what do you think of the new birds?" Dan asked referring to Beth and Sally.

"Oh you know…they're pretty nice." Lewis replied non-commitally.

"You mean you fancy Sal don't ya?" Dan pressed, smirking at his friend who was now also pretending to be asleep.

"Well she's hot don't you think?" Lewis muttered as he turned over.

"Yeah she's quite hot…not as hot as Beth though. Although it's probably a matter of opinion." Dan replied, picturing Beth in a bikini. A fantasy that would be fulfilled tomorrow when his group did swimming.

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Okay so that's some more sam/phil out of the way to keep you lot happy :P ta for reading now please review or I'll be stingy and wait ages for the next ud lol...not for you emzie...you can have the next one when you please because I've got a feeling it'll need spellchecked :P but yeah please review cause it makes me happy 


	7. Mistaken

**Wow well I had a great response to the last chapter :D Thankies to all the lovely lovely people who reviewed and shame on those who didn't...sorry that I said it could have been up Thursday...silly me forgot that I have dancing then! So here is chapter seven and it's dedicated to Emz, Laura, Sarah, Becky, Ally, Jodie, Gemz, Lynsey, Mandi, Laura and Lisa :D Thanks to all you guys and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Phil trailed in behind a bunch of children he was supposed to be looking after, sighing loudly and being generally quite irritable. "What's with the long face?" Diane asked jokingly as she sank down into a beanbag in front of the wide screen TV. "Anyone would think we'd just been told we were doing a rematch of yesterdays water sports tournament!"

"Ugh children." Phil grumbled getting dirty looks from the kids sitting near them. "How many times a day do they actually have to go to the toilet!"

"Shut it Phil, the movie's starting." Sam said from nearby him as Jack turned out the lights and the title screen to The Simpsons Movie appeared in front of them. Phil leant back in his beanbag and gave up his grump act, thankful that their activities for the day revolved around staying indoors, eating popcorn and watching movies. Even if they were all PG's so the little ones could watch them too!

Somewhere through Ice Age 2 Phil's eyes drooped and he began to snore loudly. Diane nudged him in the back with her knee and he jerked awake. Turning round he shot a scowl in her vague direction, it was too dark to properly see where anybody was sitting. Smirking Phil reaching his hand out to the knee which was next to him. He recalled that Sam was in the beanbag next to him and rubbed his thumb gently back and forth before moving his hand slightly further up and stroking the inner thigh. Just then he received a sharp slap around the face and he saw someone get up and run from the room.

"Sam? Sam where are you going?" Phil called, worried that he'd offended her in some way, although he wasn't sure how that could have been considering how far things would have gone yesterday had Diane not interrupted them.

"I'm not going anywhere…what are you on about?" Sam said from the other side of him. Phil swore under his breath and bolted from the room with Sam in hot pursuit. "Phil…what's happened? What did you do?" Sam said as she caught up with him outside the Rec. Room.

"I…I erm…I thought you were sitting on the other side of me and I had my hand on what I thought was your knee, then I moved it higher up "your leg". It's not Diane…or Jack 'cause Di was sitting behind me and Jack was over by the windows. It must have been one of the kids…but which one!" Phil groaned, clapping a hand over his face.

"Phil it was Jason…you know, tall, sandy hair about thirteen." Sam said recalling what the room looked like before the lights had gone out. "There he is." She added, pointing over by some trees where a lone figure was sitting on the ground, hunched over and obviously crying.

They approached cautiously but at the last minute Sam halted Phil and made him wait there. "Jason…Jason it's Sam." She said taking a few more steps forwards.

"Don't come near me. I hate you all." Jason wailed, not looking up at her.

"Jason I haven't done anything wrong…neither have you. Phil didn't mean to do that to you, he thought it was me who was sitting there. He wouldn't have done it otherwise." She tried again and this time she appeared to get through to him a little bit.

"He wouldn't?" Jason questioned, his gaze still stony but his tone a little more welcoming than before.

"No…he's not like that. I promise." Sam said holding out her hand for him. When she'd pulled him up she opened her arms to him but he flinched and walked around her. "Do you want to come back in and watch the rest of the movie with us?"

"Kay." Jason replied softly, still staying as far away from Phil as was possible. When they were back in the Rec. Room he went to sit by Jack and Sam and Phil returned to their normal seats. Di kicked Phil softly.

"Where did you two slope off to…or do I not want to know?" Di teased, getting the evils from Phil. "Okay, okay I'll shut up."

In the afternoon, after the activities were over Jack noticed that Jason still seemed pretty edging. Jack approached Frankie and asked if she would tell him anything about Jason's past.

"Yeah look come in here." Frankie said dragging Jack into the main cabin with him. "Look Jason doesn't want many people to know this but his Mum was a prostitute. There was one time when a punter arrived at the house to wait for his Mum…only he didn't wait for her. He sexually abused Jason only a neighbour heard his screams and phoned the police. Jason had to give evidence and everything in court, Michael Gardner went down for eight years and Jason's getting his life back together." Frankie said slowly.

Jack's eyebrows shout up his head. "Poor kid." He muttered before turning and walking back out into the sunshine. Jason was sitting with his back up against a tree, peeling the bark off of a twig and ignoring everyone around him. "Hey mate." Jack said as he sat down next to Jason who grunted in reply. "You know that Phil wouldn't hurt you. He's not like Michael." Jack said softly and Jason turned to look at him.

"How do you know that? People aren't always how they appear." Jason said looking back down at the ground.

"I've worked with Phil for a very long time. He's not a bad man. He thought that you were his girlfriend, it was a genuine mistake Jason, I promise. Look Phil feels really bad about it, he wants to apologise to you." Jack explained and Jason's face softened.

"Okay…I guess." He muttered and Jack beckoned over Phil who'd been sitting watching them.

"Hi Jason, I'm sorry about earlier. I really didn't mean it. It won't happen again I swear." Phil said worriedly.

"Sure…you just scared me that's all." Jason answered looking up at Phil.

"Do you want to come and play football with the others?" Phil asked cocking his head to the side.

"Na…I'll stay here with Jack." Jason replied smiling over at Jack who he'd come to look up to as a bit of a father figure. Jack smiled happily, he knew it wasn't the same but he felt satisfied that at least one person looked up to him. Benjamin never had, Jason was a bit like the son Jack had always craved. Someone to appreciate you, to need you, to want to spend time with you.

With the kids cooped up in the Rec. Room, supervised by four more unwilling adults the others were free to do as they pleased. Sally walked down from the cabin on her own and entered the pool house, shrugging off her jeans and t-shirt to reveal a dark blue tankini which showed off her figure. Lewis – who was already in the pool – just treaded water and stared at her, his mouth hanging open slightly.

She dived in next to him and swam round him in circles teasing him until he started to chase after her. Sally was faster than him and easily shrugged him off, swimming slowly until he'd almost caught her and then suddenly speeding off in another direction just in time. Eventually he cornered her in the edge of the pool where she was sitting on the side.

He swam up to her and stood on the shallow floor of the pool, her legs either side of his waist. They just sat and looked at each other for a few moments before Sally leant forwards, bringing her face closer to his. Their lips were centimetres apart when they heard the creak of the door and both separated and turned to look. Smithy was standing in the doorway, smirking at the two young PCs in their compromising position. "I'll leave you guys to it." He muttered and then left chuckling to himself.

Sally blushed and looked away shyly but Lewis moved closer again and placed his hands around her waist. Sally reached out a hand and stroked the side of his face at the same time as she brought her lips down to his. The kiss became heated and Lewis lifted her down from the side of the pool, her legs still around his waist and they sat kissing in the shallow water.

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**Well...another chapter done...and several more written lol. Now I'm feeling generous so if I get a sufficient amount of reviews by Sunday then I'll ud then :D It's all up to you guys now...xxxpip**


	8. Catch Me When I Fall

**Ta to...Lisa, Redtheblue, Laura, Becky, Gemz, Laura and Emz. This is for Emzie to cheer her up :D xx**

Beth and Sally leant against the fence as Frankie explained to the children in their group how tubing worked. Sally had a silly little smile which hadn't been removed since last night. "You keep grinning like that and it'll stick that way." Beth muttered getting a dry laugh from Sally. "Why are you so happy anyway?"

"No reason…do I have to have an excuse for smiling now?" Sally replied smirking at Beth.

"Nope…just wondering." Beth said as she began to follow the kids up to the top of the slope. Holly and Rowen were standing holding hands nervously at the top. "Which of you is going first?" Beth asked bending down next to them.

"We're scared…we don't want to go." Holly said tearfully, looking at the steep drop below her.

"What if one of you sat on my knee when we went down and one on Sally's knee? Would that be better?" Beth replied reassuringly. The two little girls nodded and scrambled onto Sally and Beth's knees as the tubes were pushed over to the edge.

"One…two…three…GO!" Kerry and Dan shouted as they flung the tubes over the edge and they went spinning down the hill at breakneck speed. Beth got up and tottered about holding Rowen's hand.

"That was fun…wasn't it?" She said once she'd regained her balance.

"Yeah I want to go with Holly!" Rowen said grabbing her twin sister's hand and racing up the slope with her. Sally and Beth laughed to themselves before helping to drag one another back up the slope where they went down together which was a bit of a squish!

After lunch the group were all lying spread out on the field, soaking up the sun when Alisa edged slowly over towards David. Beth was sitting playing with Holly's plaits and she turned her head slightly so she could hear better. "So…you want to?" She heard David ask and Alisa whispered something obscene about what she wanted to do to him into his ear.

Beth's eyes widened and she looked around helplessly, not feeling mature enough or qualified enough to deal with this by herself. Everyone else however seemed preoccupied so she leant over and nudged them both. "Do you really think that's appropriate behaviour in front of the little ones?" She said softly so as not to draw the attention of the rest of the group.

Alisa however shot to her feet and glared at Beth. "What business is it of yours? You're not even much older than me, you can't tell me what to do." She said playing on Beth's insecurities. Beth rubbed her neck shyly and then continued.

"Sorry but I have to tell you this. I mean you know like the stuff you were saying and that well it's not appropriate…you guys are still underage, it's against the law for yeah…that to happen between you." She said blushing redder by the minute.

"Why do you care?" Alisa replied haughtily.

"I…I mean you shouldn't be saying that to him. Are you like trying to tell him you're easy or something?" Beth said, instantly realising her mistake as Alisa lunged forwards at her, her fist stopping just millimetres from Beth's face as Dan grabbed her round the waist, dragging her away.

Alisa grinned up at Dan. "Check you feeling me up. Can't you get arrested for that?" She said causing him to take his hands off her immediately, looking shocked at her attitude. "If you wanted to grope me then you could at least have asked." She continued, attracting the attention of the other adults.

Kerry barged over and then dragged Alisa away by the arm with Dan following nervously in tow. Beth meanwhile was sitting a little away from the group with her head buried in her knees, her shoulders shaking slightly as she sobbed. Smithy approached from where his group had been playing football and crouched down next to her. "Hey kiddo what's wrong?" He asked gently and she looked up. "Oh it's you Beth…um sorry. Are you alright?" Smithy said, flustered that he'd mistaken her for one of the children.

Beth smiled slightly through her tears. "It's just that isn't it…I'm a joke. I'm not old enough to be a Police Officer, everybody says it and if they don't I know they're thinking it in their heads. I don't think I'm cut out for this." She sobbed into her knees again.

"Hey Beth don't get yourself down. You're a great little copper, who cares if you're young it just means you bring something different to the team. I wish the rest of them were like you, open minded, attentive and caring. Anyway…I think Lewis needs you, something tells me he's never babysat seven kids by himself before!" Smithy said reaching round and giving her a one armed hug.

"Thanks Sarge…I mean Smithy." Beth said happily as she dried her tears and bounced back over to Sally and Lewis who were struggling with their charges.

Dan, Kerry and Alisa meanwhile had commandeered a spot underneath a shady tree, far away from any of the other groups and had sat down, even though it had been forcefully for one of them. Kerry picked at her nail, Dan scuffed his shoes on the ground and Alisa hummed softly to herself, none of them sure what to say next. "You know you shouldn't have been saying things like that don't you?" Kerry said finally, tilting her head to look at Alisa who muttered back something inaudible.

"Yeah and Beth was just doing her job, it's not her fault. She had to mention it. What if one of the little ones had heard you?" Dan butted in, defending her.

Alisa just raised her eyebrows at Dan and he shut up straight away. Kerry narrowed her eyes at her and leant forwards slightly. "Has anything…happened?" She asked making Alisa snort.

"Happened…well let me see. I got up this morning, I brushed my teeth, I ate breakfast. Oh happened…well you see The Twin Towers got bombed on 9/11, my Mum topped herself when I was five and Gordon Brown has recently been appointed the new Prime Minister. Happened…yeah a lot of things have happened. God you lot are useless, if you want to say it then why don't you?" Alisa kidded about laughing at the two of them.

"Fine." Kerry snapped angrily. "Have you slept with David…or anyone else for that matter?" She continued making both Dan and Alisa blush. Dan muttered something about going to check on the others and then he scampered off quickly. Alisa was tracing a shape in the dirt with a stick she'd picked up, trying to dodge Kerry's now asked question. "Alisa? Is that a yes or a no considering you wanted me to ask the question so badly?"

Alisa made a 'Hmph' kind of noise and continued to stare at her shoes. "Sorry what was that?" Kerry persisted annoyingly.

"No! Fine okay so I haven't not now, not ever!" Alisa shouted turning so she couldn't see Kerry any more.

"Well that's good then because otherwise it would have been against the law." Kerry said softly as she rested a hand on Alisa's shoulder. "Why is it something to be ashamed of?" She added, still noticing the girl's reluctance to face her and acknowledge what she'd just said.

"'Cause…'cause all my friends 'ave done it…and…and it makes me feel like a stupid little kid." Alisa murmured, still not meeting Kerry's eyes.

"Awww Lis…don't feel like that. I bet they're all just lying to make themselves look tough." Kerry replied rubbing her hand on Alisa's shoulder slightly.

"Don't call me that! What would you know?" Alisa shouted, getting up and running towards the heart of the wood. She didn't get far though when she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her back. Kerry turned Alisa to face her and saw the tears slipping down her cheeks thick and fast. She was sobbing so hard that Kerry had to put a hand on both arms to stop her from falling over.

She helped her over to the tree they'd been sitting under a moment ago and lowered her gently to the ground. "What's wrong sweetheart?" Kerry asked caringly as she wrapped her arms around Alisa.

"M…Mum used to call me that." Alisa whispered through her tears, resting her head against Kerry's chest. "It was her special name for me…nobody else is allowed to call me that." She continued, looking up into Kerry's eyes.

It was a shocker for Kerry to see this tough kid reduced to tears over something as simple as being called another name. She rocked her gently back and forth, her chin resting on Alisa's head until the tears had dried up and her hiccups had stopped. "Thanks Kerry." She whispered slowly as she rolled out of Kerry's arms and onto the dirt next to them.

"You're welcome Alisa. Back to what we were talking about earlier…I'm glad you said what you did. It makes my job one hell of a lot easier kiddo. Just remember if you do then use protection." Kerry said smirking down at her.

"Yes mother." Alisa joked, pretending to cover her ears, then she linked arms with Kerry and they began to walk back over towards where their group were still sitting patiently. "I should say sorry to Beth shouldn't I?" She added, not really needing confirmation as she ran off at that point and stopped in front of an astounded Beth. "I'm really sorry for what I did…and said. I didn't mean to make you feel bad…I'm sorry I just got angry." She said before she briefly wrapped her arms around Beth and then dodged out of the way and over towards Robyn.

"Who's that kid…and what did you do with Alisa Henries?" Beth joked to Kerry after she'd gotten over the shock.

"Yeah…in the space of a few minutes it was like she had a personality transplant." Kerry muttered, keeping quiet about Alisa's past and her little outburst a few minutes previously.

"Kez…I need you to give me a hand carrying something out from the cabin." Smithy said as he walked past.

"Can't you get Will to do it? I'm rubbish at carrying stuff…I mean I'm clumsy." She protested before she saw the look on his face and just hurried after him. "So what are we taking out?" She asked looking around the hallway of the cabin.

"Kerry." Smithy said silencing her as he bent forwards and pressed his lips lightly against hers. He pushed her up against the wall and ran his hands along her back and slipped them into her jeans pockets. Slowly prising her lips and teeth apart with his tongue their kiss became fiery and they were lost in their own little world until the door opened noisily next to them and they broke away before noticing it was just Beth.

The little PC squeezed past them muttering "Ewww, ewww, ewww." All the while as she went into the kitchen to fetch a plaster for Holly who'd just fallen over and scraped her elbow.

"She cracks me up." Kerry said after regaining her breath when they finally came up for air. "She's like so sweet and innocent." She added seeing Smithy smile.

"Yeah well working with you lot will change that pretty quick." He muttered as he began pressing kisses to her neck.

"Mr Smith, Miss Young…I don't remember authorising this break." Gina said sticking her head around the door and making the pair jump apart and blush furiously. "Ha ha you two are comic you really are…you don't have to listen to me here…equal rank outside the station and all that. Still you have to admit it was amusing." Gina said getting the evils from Smithy.

Late in the evening before bed Sally and Beth were sitting outside the cabin each with one of the twins on their knees. "Billy and Marco are silly. They like to dig up mud in the garden and make mud castles out of it!" Rowen said wrinkling up her nose.

"Are they your foster brothers?" Sally asked tickling Holly who was sitting on her knee. Holly nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth sleepily. "Oi Missy! No thumb sucking, that's for babies isn't it?" Sally said taking her thumb from her mouth and wiping it on her pyjamas.

"No it tastes nice…and Beth sucks her thumb." Holly giggled shooting a glance at Beth.

"What? How do you know?" Beth said laughing.

"We spied on you last night…you suck your thumb when you're sleeping." Rowen replied matter-of-factly. "Andy and Natalie let us suck our thumbs…that's our foster parents, they're nice to us…not like Mummy and Daddy." She added, her lip beginning to tremble.

Beth and Sally exchanged a look and then proceeded with caution. "What did Mummy and Daddy used to do?" Beth asked softly.

"Not much…they neglecteded us. That's what the social worker said anyways." Holly mumbled, reaching out for Rowen's hand. "Daddy used to drink all the time and we didn't get food and things a lot but Natalie and Andy are good. They say they love us lots and lots." She continued sniffing slightly.

Both Beth and Sally wrapped their arms around the little girl that they were holding and picked them up, carrying them back into the cabin. After they'd tucked them up in bed they made their way outside again to chat. "They are such sweet kids, it's a shame that so much bad stuff's happened to them." Beth murmured resting her back against the side of the cabin.

Sally however wasn't listening fully and she put out an arm to silence Beth and they both watched in interest as Will and Emma appeared over the top of the hill, arm in arm. They stopped underneath the big tree by the cabin and stood talking quietly for a few minutes before Will leant down slightly and kissed Emma's cheek making her blush. "Night Em." He whispered as she disappeared from sight and he turned back towards his own cabin.

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**Next ud will most likely be Monday-Wednesday :P reviews may speed things up though :D xxxpip**


	9. Tell Me About It

**Thanks to my two Laura's, Becky and Emz for reviewing. I'm sorry that some people are so fickle that they don't like to review or think badly of my fic just because I can go one chapter without putting some SP in it. I added a bit for you lot in this one though. half smiles enjoy**

Emma sat cross-legged on the bed behind Florence while she plaited her hair neatly. Beth was hanging upside down from one of the bunk beds and Sally was chasing Holly round and round the cabin trying to get her into her pyjamas which was proving to be quite a task. Emma flicked the bobbles around the bottom of the plaits and lifted the little girl up so she could look in the mirror.

Emma flopped back down onto the bed and sighed, it had been a long day so far and the kids were really hyperactive. She felt something soft land on her stomach and looked up to see Florence looking back down at her a little grin plastered across her face. She curled up in a ball on Emma's stomach, one hand clenched around part of Emma's t-shirt.

"You comfy Flo?" Emma giggled and the little girl nodded. "Oh look you've messed up your hair now, let me do that little bit again." She said sitting up and redoing the bottom of the plait which had come unravelled. Emma looked across at Keeley who hastily lowered her eyes and pretended to be busy reading a book that was lying limply in her hands. "Keeley…do you want me to do your hair as well?" Emma asked, unsure as to what it was Keeley wanted.

She simply turned around and tried to ignore Emma. "Okay Flo…time for bed." Emma whispered tucking Florence in under the covers and kissing her forehead softly. She then got up and walked towards the cabin exit. Turning round in the doorway she leant against it. "Keeley…will you come for a walk with me?" She asked making Keeley turn and stare at her.

"Come on…it won't be long then I'll stop nagging you." Emma persisted and Keeley reluctantly trailed out of the cabin behind her, leaving Sally and Beth to get the other little ones ready for bed. They wandered across the grounds and then over the fence and up the small hill to the West of the camp. Emma began to climb and Keeley followed her, tripping slightly because of the steepness of the steps. "Watch it! I don't want to have to carry you back to camp!" Emma joked making Keeley smile slightly.

They sat on top of the hill looking out across the landscape. In the distance they could see a shimmering lake and everything was tinged with a pinkish/yellow glow that the dying sun was casting. "So…how come you're here? What happened to sorting yourself out?" Emma asked gently after a few minutes of silence.

Keeley looked hurt and shot a glance at Emma. "I did…kind of. It wasn't my fault. When you lot arrested Jay, Jen wouldn't talk to me…we fell out and then all my mates disowned me. Nobody would talk to me…and then they started hittin' me and stuff. I only hit back…I didn't start it but it was me that nearly got done for GBH…I didn't mean for Chloe to fall down the stairs, she was going to push me!" Keeley said, working herself up.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I had no idea." Emma murmured, feeling bad for all the hurt she and Will had caused the girl after they'd let go of the case. "So it isn't on your record then?" She asked.

"No…thank god because then I would be able to get the job I want." Keeley replied, still looking intently at her shoes.

"What is it you want to do?" Emma asked interested.

"Nursery Nursing…I love little kids I just…I don't know if I'm cut out for it." Keeley muttered blushing.

"Well I think you do a great job with the kids here. They all love you, especially Megan and Flo." Emma said smiling at Keeley who was looking slightly happier. "Are you sure that's everything…there's nothing you're still like not sharing it's just you seem a little edgy." Emma continued still noticing Keeley's reluctance to make eye contact.

"I'm fine!" Keeley protested.

"You sure…it's not like boyfriend problems or anything?" Keeley shook her head. "Family? Confidence? Teachers? School? Getting grounded?" Emma asked racking her brains but to each one she got another shake of the head. "Are you positive? Sure it's not about a boy?" She asked again, knowing she was winding her up.

"Yes fine okay yes it's about a guy!" Keeley blurted out suddenly, making Emma do a bit of a double take. She spread her hands as if saying 'go on' and titled her head to the side. "I…well I slept with him." Keeley added and Emma's eyebrows shot up her forehead. She was only thirteen after all! "Mum hates him…'cause he's a bit of a troublemaker."

"Hmmm I had a boyfriend like that once. My parents really hated him…but you know you just have to follow your heart sometimes." Emma said, slightly dodging the issue of Keeley breaking the law.

"Yeah well it ain't up to me now." Keeley mumbled looking away again.

"How come?" Emma said turning slightly to get a better look at Keeley's face.

"Well he dumped me…you know…after we'd…yeah because…because well…erm." Keeley said shiftily, biting her lip and blushing.

"Because?" Emma prompted.

"Because…because he said…because he said." Keeley stammered, now very red in the face.

"Because he said you were a shit fuck." Emma finished for her and Keeley turned to look shamefacedly at her.

"Yeah…" She whispered softly.

"You know sometimes it pays not to go rushing into that step…I mean especially not for you because you're underage and all that but just taking your time getting there can save a hell of a lot of problems." Emma replied, thinking back to all the mistakes she'd made when she was younger.

"Like you'd know." Keeley joked receiving an elbow in the ribs from an indignant Emma. "Oh come on…you and Will! You must have done it by now!" She added making Emma blush and Keeley giggled triumphantly. "Oh my god you so have."

"Yeah okay so shut up. It was a while ago and we're not even together now." Emma muttered, now it was her turn to blush. Keeley simply raised and eyebrow and Emma continued. "Well when I joined Sun Hill I was right out of Uni…I was going out with a guy called Matt who'd I'd been seeing for a year or so and all of a sudden I had these other guys interested in me. It was really confusing and everything and then one night Will took me out for a drink and we ended up kissing. I dumped Matt the next day but I was really messed up and that so I got back together with him not long after. A few months later Matt proposed to me and I freaked out and said no. Matt took it pretty badly and I went to Will's because I was really upset and yeah well one thing led to another and we did sleep together. The next day I like found him at some racist gig…I didn't know he was undercover and I went right back to Matt and go engaged to him like the next day."

"What so you're still married?" Keeley asked widening her eyes.

"No…long story short my ex tried to kill me." Emma replied staring at her trainers. Keeley's mouth dropped open and she resembled a gold fish for a short period of time.

"Oh…it seems like every person here has been having a rough time lately…you lot included." She said softly, nudging Emma in a way of comfort.

"You know when you…slept with thingy…erm what's his name? You did use protection didn't you?" Emma asked, running her fingers through her hair absent-mindedly.

"Ryan…erm well you see…um well no." Keeley said slowly, nervously turning her head to the side to lock eyes with Emma who simply rolled her eyes and shook her head in mock exasperation.

"Do you want me to take you to the clinic to get checked out tomorrow…you know just to be safe." Emma suggested and Keeley nodded shyly. "You know you don't have to be embarrassed or worried in front of me Keeley…I've seen it all before and probably done it all before. I'm practically unshockable now!" Emma said seeing more of the teen in herself than ever before.

"I just…well I thought that you'd go mad and shout at me. Or be disappointed in me because well you know I'm not supposed to be doing that but you're not like that…yeah why aren't you like that?" Keeley said looking puzzled.

"Because I remember being your age kiddo…and yeah it wasn't that long ago that I was getting myself into all these scrapes that you're getting yourself into now. Only I guess it was harder to get away with for me what with my Dad being the DI at my local nick when I was growing up. The distinct recollection of being dragged into custody for underage drinking only to come face to face with my Dad springs to mind." Emma said laughing slightly. "I know from experience that nothing gets solved if you're just screamed and shouted at and given punishment after punishment from lots of different people. I think you've punished yourself enough already Keeley."

"Thanks Em…for everything." Keeley whispered resting her head on Emma's shoulder slightly.

"You're welcome." Emma murmured in return, getting to her feet and holding out her hands for Keeley to be pulled up by. On their way back to camp Emma felt Keeley's arm slip through hers and they chatted happily the whole way there.

Sam stood beside Phil at the kitchen sink drying some pots and pans while he washed the rest of the dishes. Something warm and wet landed on the end of her nose and she squinted cross-eyed to see a blob of bubbles obscuring her vision. "Phil." She giggled as she flicked the bubbles off. He smiled wickedly at her as he took a handful of soapy water and threw it at her. "Aghh!" She shrieked launching herself at him and wiping at his face with the dishtowel.

Ten minutes later, a very soggy Sam and Phil made their way upstairs to get changed. Sam stopped outside her room and put one hand on the door handle but Phil pulled her back. "Kiss please." He murmured and she leant up to press to gentle kisses on his lips. Leaving him standing in a dreamy daze in the corridor while she proceeded into her and Gina's room, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Back in the cabin Emma stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair as Beth and Sally got changed for bed. "She's a right handful that Keeley isn't she." Sally said, flopping back onto her bed in exhaustion.

"Oh you know…she's not such a bad kid after all. She's quite sweet really." Emma said climbing under the covers, her eyelids already beginning to close. Beth raised herself up onto her elbows so she could look over the top of Emma. She raised her eyebrows and smiled when she saw Sally doing the exact same thing.

Keeley rolled over in bed and stared up at the ceiling through the darkness. What would tomorrow bring?

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**As always I appreciate reviews. Even if you didn't like it know that each storyline in this fic is short and will be over soon so bear with me. Just review goddamnit though because I feel like I've done something wrong now I've lost like ten reviewers at once... xxpip**


	10. Daddy!

**:D Yay I've got my reviewers back! Thanks to Lisa, Dannii, Becky, Emz, Laura, babybel, Laura, Gemz and Ally80.**

Emma rolled out of bed the next morning and rubbed her eyes sleepily as she stumbled over towards the wardrobe she shared with Beth and Sally. Rummaging around she managed to produce a pair of clean jeans and a practically uncreased t-shirt which she took with her to the shower block. A few minutes later she reappeared and scraped her wet hair back into a messy bun.

She sauntered down the hill to the main cabin where she could see a light on in the kitchen. She knocked softly on the door and then made her way in. "Hi Sasch." She whispered easing herself around the door.

"Oh hi Emma…what are you doing up so early? Frankie isn't even up yet!" Sascha replied sitting down at the table with tea and toast.

"Well I needed to come and speak to you about something that happened last night." Emma said uncomfortably. Sascha just looked at her so Emma took a deep breath and then continued. "You know Keeley Tate…yeah well I knew her before she came here from a previous investigation and I was interested in what happened like after we stopped investigating. We went for a walk last night and talked about a lot of things…things that she probably wouldn't want me to share with you but…but there was one thing that I've got to act on. She told me that she'd been having sex with a boy…who's now her ex and we both agreed that she should get herself checked out just to be safe."

"Okay…right well are you happy to take her or would you rather that somebody else did?" Sascha said taking control of the situation like it was something that happened every day.

"No I'm fine to do it. I think Keeley would prefer it if I went with her actually I mean it took quite a while to get her to trust me in the first place." Emma said softly.

"Sure that's no problem…you've got your disclosure anyway so we're covered legally. Right well the nearest big town is about 40 miles away so I recommend that you borrow one of your colleagues cars and just drive her there and back. Do you have any other questions?" Sascha asked tilting her head to the side.

"Erm no…well yes…am I doing the right thing?" Emma replied nervously.

"Em you're handling it brilliantly, just keep going the way you are. Reassure Keeley that she's got support if she needs it and try to get her to open up to you. These kids just need love and attention, not judgement." Sascha replied compassionately, resting a hand on Emma's arm.

Emma smiled and turned from Sascha, leaving the kitchen and walking back up the hill towards the cabin. She padded softly through it until she reached Keeley's bed and crouched down next to her sleeping figure. "Keeley…Keeley sweetheart it's time to wake up." She said gently as she shook her shoulder.

"Mmmm…it's a bitty early isn't it?" She said grumpily as she sat up in bed.

"We've got somewhere to go remember…why don't you go and take a shower and I'll meet you back here in ten and then we can get ready to go." Emma replied moving towards her room. Keeley dragged herself up and moved slowly towards the showers. Emma meanwhile had crept back into her room to find Beth and Sally sitting up in bed chatting to each other. "Hey guys…I've err…I've got to take Keeley into town for a little bit today but I should be back after lunch just to let you know." Emma said trying to give away as little as possible.

"Sure we'll see you later then." Beth called as Emma scuttled back into the main dorm, keen to get away from the possible questions that they would no doubt have.

"You ready hun?" Emma asked as she saw Keeley sitting nervously on the edge of her bed, picking at her thumbnail. She nodded, now incapable of speech and followed Emma from the cabin and across the grounds towards the staff cabin. "I've got to go and get someone's car keys, I won't be long…you can wait here or in the living room if you want." Emma said as they got into the hallway. Again Keeley nodded meekly but this time she managed a small smile.

Emma tiptoed up the stairs towards the room she knew that Will, Phil and Diane shared. She knocked softly on the door before entering and making her way straight over to Will's bed. Sitting down next to him she smiled as he gurgled in his sleep, arms wrapped around half of his pillow. Then she ran a hand gently down the side of his face and he began to stir. When his eyes opened he blinked a few times and then sat upright. "Emma! What are you doing here?" He whispered looking around in confusion.

"I have to take one of the kids to the doctors…I need Phil's car keys…I thought that you'd know where they were." She replied smiling pleadingly at him.

"Sure sweetheart…they're around here somewhere." He said fishing through Phil's bedside cabinet and then producing them but keeping them dangled above Emma's head. "I've got them…but it's going to cost you." He said raising his eyebrows at her.

"Oh I'll make it worth your while boy." Emma replied flirtatiously as she deftly reached up and grabbed the keys from his hands. As she turned to leave she felt Will's hand on her arm, pulling her back he leant towards her but at that particular moment they heard a small but deliberate cough behind them and turned to see Keeley standing with an amused expression on her face, just outside the door.

Emma pushed past Keeley. "Not a word." She muttered jokingly before turning and blowing a kiss to Will who was still standing with a bemused expression on his face. They walked down the car park in silence and Emma found Phil's car. "You're quiet." She commented after ten minutes of the journey.

"Mmmhmm." Keeley replied still staring out of the car window at the scenery flying past her.

Meanwhile back at camp the rest of the children were having breakfast in the hall, all chattering between themselves, blissfully unaware that Keeley was missing from the group. Smithy leant back in his seat and surveyed the children happily. "Well this has gotta be a first…breakfast with no tantrums and troubles." He announced quietly to the rest of his colleagues. Although he spoke just a minute too soon as they heard a crash and saw milk pouring off one of the tables and Katy and Tanya each holding tightly onto the other's hair!

"You should watch what you say Smithy, it seems like the opposite always happens." Kerry said laughing at him.

"In that case I'm so not having sex tonight." He muttered back making Kerry giggle and hit him softly.

Gina and Diane rushed over from their places at the staff table to where the pair were fighting. "All right you two what's going on here?" Gina roared making some of the smaller children jump in fright.

"It's not my fault! She deliberately spilt the milk all over me." Katy screamed, red in the face, still struggling wildly against Diane.

"Did not!" Tanya shot back, kicking the table in anger, narrowly missing one of the other children.

"It doesn't matter now, Tanya you're going to help me clean up and Diane can you take Katy back to the cabin to get cleaned up because she's covered in the stuff." Gina said bossily as she dragged Tanya away to find a mop and bucket.

"Get off me!" Katy yelled as Diane tried to lead her up to the cabin. "I said get off me you cow!" She continued, hitting Diane with as much force as she could having only one free hand. "Get off!" She howled in indignation.

"No." Diane said simply as she forced Katy to sit on her bed. "Now you go and get yourself changed and I'll wait here. When you're done we'll go back down and you can finish breakfast alright." She continued as if Katy wasn't still shouting at the top of her voice.

Katy stomped her foot and a mutinous look crossed her face but when she saw that Diane was not one to back down easily she turned around and began to get changed. A few minutes later she wandered back across to where Diane was waiting patiently for her. "I want to go back now…please." Katy said, adding the polite term on the end as an afterthought.

Emma stepped out of the car and waited for Keeley to get out as well before she locked up behind her. "Okay you ready?" She asked softly as she saw Keeley wobble slightly on her feet, her face a pale shade of green. Keeley nodded and they walked into the clinic, taking a seat and waiting for Keeley's name to be called.

About ten minutes later a nurse appeared in a doorway and smiled reassuringly at Keeley. "Miss Tate…we're ready for you now." She said causing Keeley to get unsteadily to her feet and cast a quick glance back at Emma.

"I'll be waiting right here for you." Emma said squeezing her hand. Keeley hesitated between the two adults and bit her lip nervously.

"You can wait outside the curtain in the consultation room if you like." The nurse said understanding Keeley's reluctance. Emma shot a look at Keeley who nodded and forced a smile.

"Okay toots…and don't look so nervous, it's not the end of the world." Emma joked trying to make her feel slightly better as she took a seat by the door and the curtain was pulled across to shield Keeley and the nurse from view.

Ten to fifteen minutes later the curtain was pulled aside and Keeley was sitting up on the bed biting her nails, her arms wrapped tightly around her. "I'll just go and process the results, I'll be back soon." The nurse said leaving them alone together.

"So…how are you feeling honey?" Emma asked going over and perching on the bed next to her.

"Alright actually." Keeley said resting her head on Emma's shoulder. "I just want all this to be over." She added thinking about the news that the results would bring. They sat chatting about nonsense to take Keeley's mind off it until the nurse returned.

"Do you want your Mum to be here or would you rather she waited outside?" The nurse asked looking between the two of them.

Emma and Keeley looked at each other in shock before Keeley let a small giggle escape. "It's okay…Mum can stay." She said elbowing Emma in the side.

"Okay well the bad news is that this all goes down on your file because you're underage. Unless your Mum wants it to, this can go unreported to the police. However the good news is that you are not pregnant and you have not caught any STDs. Now I can give you some information regarding contraception if you want and you may wish to talk to your regular doctor about options such as The Pill." The nurse said slowly.

"Err thanks but no thanks…I won't be doing that again any time soon." Keeley muttered shyly as she slid down from the bed. "Lets go." She added tugging on Emma's hand.

"Thanks for your time." Emma said, turning to flash a smile at the nurse who nodded in reply and went back to making notes on a sheet of paper. She then followed Keeley from the clinic and back into the car. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Emma turned to Keeley. "Do you want to get some lunch now…it's only like 12 but I'm hungry what about you?"

"Umm yeah thanks." Keeley said staring at her shoes. She didn't say another word until they were standing outside the car trying to choose a place to have lunch in.

"So about what you said in the nurse's office…do you want to tell me more about it?" Emma asked making Keeley squirm.

"Not here…please…just…not here." She replied looking around her in embarrassment.

"Oh sure okay." Emma said taking her over to a shop where they bought sandwiches and crisps and took them back to the car. Emma drove for a few minutes before stopping at a little river with a footbridge going over it. They got out of the car and sat down on the bank, tucking into their lunch. When they finished they both lay back soaking up some of the gorgeous sunshine.

"I said that I would be doing it again soon because…well because it wasn't very nice." Keeley murmured. "He wasn't very caring…and then he went around telling all his mates and well I didn't really see what the big fuss was about." Keeley added.

Emma rolled over onto her stomach and Keeley did the same so they were facing each other. "Maybe you should just steer clear of him. There's plenty of other blokes out there who'll treat you right and make you happy." She said thinking about how after Matt she'd thought she'd be alone and unhappy for the rest of her life.

Keeley smiled and pulled Emma up by her hands and they wandered back to the car. An hour and a bit later they arrived back at camp and walked up the slope towards the cabins to ditch their stuff before going and joining in with the afternoon activities. Will walked over to them and said hi.

"Hi…Daddy." Keeley giggled, running off to the cabin and leaving an amused Emma to explain what had happened at the clinic and how they'd been mistaken for mother and daughter. Will shook his head and laughed.

"Well then my darling wife, lets get back to Gina and Smithy. Something tells me that the kids will be running riot already!" Will said jokingly as he pulled Emma away by the hand.

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**Okay so I know that if you don't like Emma as a character then you probably hated this chapter but please if you have some sort of decency you'll review because I'm trying to vary the story as much as possible while keeping to my origional plot lines. I know that not everybody likes every pairing but you've got to understand I'm trying to write a fic to appeal not only to the SP audience but to others as well. There is a lot of SP scheduled for the next few chapters but I'm going to be mean and I'd like to have at least 60 reviews before my next UD and I know it's possible because at one point I hade more than ten regular reviewers so don't let me down guys. It's 60 reviews or a two week rest. :P xxxpip**


	11. I'm Spinning Around

**Thanks to Rochelle, Dannii, Sarah, Babybel, Becky, Gemz, Laura, Laura, GinaGoldfan and of course EMZIE :D you do make me giggle gurlie...with our equal impatientness! I thought I was bad a waiting...then I met you and realised there is someone out there who's just as impatient as me! I'm going to start the next chapter of this tonight just for you...and everyone else who so kindly reviewed I love you guys xxxxxxxpip**

Phil crouched down beside the large sand pit and smiled encouragingly at Sarah-Louise. "Come on sweetheart, it's just a hop, a skip and a jump." He said as she looked up nervously at him. Placing her little foot onto the white board she swallowed and then flung herself forwards onto one leg.

"Hop, skip, jump." She mouthed as she landed about three paces in front of the sand pit!

"That was good honey but you need to do it a little bit further." Phil said trying to contain his laughter.

"But my legs are short!" Sarah complained looking down at the skinny legs sticking out of the bottom of her shorts.

"That they might be but it doesn't mean you can't reach the pit darlin'. You've just got to try. Come on I'll help you." Phil said pulling her back over to the start board. "Right…now take my hand and I'll do it with you." They took off, Phil lifting Sarah-Louise high off the ground and landing half way towards the pit. "See we're doing it now!" He said as she giggled and landed almost knee deep in the pit.

"That was fun! Can I do it again?" She asked giggling as she rolled about getting all sandy.

"Maybe later trouble but it's somebody else's turn now." Phil said as he picked her up shrieking and twirled her round and round.

Diane nudged Sam. "Awww would you look at that, Phil Hunter has a heart after all." She joked earning herself a dig in the ribs. Sam leant back on her elbows and watched as Phil placed Sarah-Louise on his shoulders and started to dance about all over the place in little circles making them both very dizzy.

"Phil! Put me down!" Sarah-Louise giggled as she flopped sideways over his shoulder. Phil stopped and let the little girl down, patting her on the head as he did so and then watching her run off to join the other children.

Over lunch Sam quietly teased Phil about his new found friendship with an eight year old! "Hey…stop it." Phil moaned. "It's not my fault she likes me. Don't you think she looks a bit like Maddie?" He added as he sat up straight, pouting at Sam.

"S'pose. Hey she could be your daughter…you know with your track record anything is possible." She said getting another jab in the side from Phil. "Awww I'll stop being mean to you now, seeing as you can't defend yourself." She added receiving a glare from Phil, followed by an attack of tickles which was only interrupted when a flash of blonde hair whizzed in front of them and a soft lump landed on Phil's knee.

Sam sat up again and looked at Sarah-Louise who was giggling angelically up at Phil, the gaps where some of her baby teeth had fallen out visible through her lips as she smiled widely. "Hello Missy, what's up?" Phil asked her, wrinkling his nose in confusion.

"Can you push me on the swing please? My legs don't reach the ground yet!" Sarah said cutely as she wrapped her arms around Phil's neck.

"Course I can…you coming Sam?" He replied as he got to his feet, Sarah-Louise still hanging round his neck. They walked over to the swing set and he put the little girl down onto one of them and began pushing her back and forth as Sam sat staring off into the distance on another swing. He gave Sarah and almighty push and then moved over to where Sam was sitting and began to push her as well. Catching the swing in his grasp he held it close to him so his breath was tickling her neck. "You look gorgeous babe, did I tell you that." He whispered making her blush. He then let her swing go but every time she came back towards him he'd put his hands on her hips and push her from there, keeping up the contact, the not so subtle flirting.

Katy kicked out at one of the hurled, toppling it over onto it's side so that Fred and Megan who were jumping them fell over, skinning their knees, their eyes smarting from the pain. Katy giggled maliciously at them and stuck out her tongue before being dragged away by an impatient Diane. "Why Katy? Why did you have to do that?" She shouted, finally losing her rag with the troublesome little girl.

"'Cause…'cause I could 'cause I don't like them. 'Cause I don't like you." Katy screamed back, right up in Diane's face. Her eyes dropped as she saw Diane's full of anger and confusion. "'Cause I can't control it…I didn't take my medicine this morning." She admitted softly, sitting down next to Diane on the slope they'd ended up on.

"You didn't take your medicine…I thought Emma was there when you took it." Diane said warily.

"Oh yeah she was…but I spat it out after 'cause it tastes mingin'." Katy said off-handedly. "I promise I'll take it tomorrow I just wanted to see what it was like when I didn't take it…the doctors says I have to take it because I'll be in trouble if I don't. He's probably right now!" She added laughing at the look on Diane's face.

"Yeah probably. So when did you get diagnosed?" Diane asked in interest.

"Oh um a few years ago. It was after the first time I got expelled…I didn't know what I'd done was wrong and then they got me a shrink! He was the one who first thought I might have ADHD. He was cool, he had toys in his office and he liked to tell jokes!" Katy replied smiling across at Diane. It wasn't often that people wanted to know about her ADHD…normally when she told them she had it they ran a mile and never came back.

Late that night Sally carried Sarah-Louise over to her bed and began to tuck her in when the little girl flipped over and looked up at her dead serious. "I want Phil to do it. Please can you get Phil?" She asked, blinking up at her.

"Course I can sweetheart." Sally said turning to Emma and asking her to go and fetch Phil for her. Sally then went around settling the other children before she went back into her, Emma and Beth's room to change into her pyjamas after a long hard day.

Emma followed Phil back from the staff cabin, trying to work out how somebody as proud as Phil could let a little girl run him riot! When they reached the cabin Emma leant against the wardrobe door at the end of one of the other kid's bunk bed as Phil tucked in Sarah-Louise and kissed her forehead softly. "Night night sweetie." He said as he ruffled her hair and then left the cabin shooting daggers at Emma and drawing his fingers across his mouth as if imitating the closing of a zipper.

Emma chuckled to herself and then went in to her room to tell Beth and Sal all about it.

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Next ud...by Friday/Saturday hopefully :D Live in hope...be faithful...actually wait this is me we're talking about...if you have faith...you'll be waiting a month for another ud on something besides this from me because I can't be assed writing anything but this lol! Yeah normally don't trust my date giving...but on this I hope to stick to it...ish :P xxxxxpip 

Oh and that's another bit of sp to keep you lot amused :D** 75 reviews before the next chap is posted :P**


	12. Bedtime

**Okay so I didn't get the ammount of reviews I wanted but oh well I did well enough I think...um about eight but yeah :D Thanks to those who did review, I appreciate it a lot. Enjoy!**

Tanya yawned loudly as Sally tried to make her apologise to one of the little kids called Peter who was hanging tightly onto Sally's hand and peering round her side cautiously, visibly shaking after having been screamed at by a furious Tanya when he 'stole' her juice carton. From the other side of the room Gina watched as Sally said something inaudible which obviously riled Tanya as she was on her feet the next moment throwing the juice carton at the wall in a screaming rage.

"Hey, hey, hey what's going on here? You outside with me now!" Gina said barging in and dragging Tanya away from Sally and Peter who were both looking equally shocked. "Lovely display there Miss Duncan now if you'd like to explain what the hell you were playing at intimidating an eight year old!" She said as they stood outside the rec. hall.

Tanya merely shrugged her shoulders and flopped down onto the steps. "He nicked my juice, I don't take shit from nobody so I told him that. It's not my fault I've got behavioural problems."

"I know you've got behaviour problems but you can't just fob people off with that as an excuse your whole life. What happens if you put somebody in hospital, the police aren't really going to just let you off with it 'because it's not your fault you have behavioural problems' are they?" Gina replied mimicking Tanya so perfectly that even she laughed.

"S'pose not. I just don't seem to be able to control it. It's hard. I mean Mum and Dad couldn't take it so they ditched me. I get riled by stuff real easy…I ain't been suspended yet though!" She added proudly making Gina grin.

"Have you ever thought about taking up boxing?" Gina asked and Tanya did a double take.

"Okay…so I've got behaviour problems and I beat people up and you're telling me to take up a sport so I can get better at it!" She said incredulously.

"No…no I'm not saying that. Boxing, it's not just about beating up folk, it's the control, the patience to wait until the right moment. You might even find it helps with your anger problems. You'll be taking out your feelings on a punch bag most of the time, not a real person. There are rules too, it's disciple training really." Gina explained turning to face the young girl.

"I'll think about it." Tanya murmured staring off into the distance and then seeing that Gina had stood up again and was holding out the door for her, they returned into the warmth of the Rec. Hall.

Sam stretched out and her arm came into contact with Phil's shoulder. "Oh sorry." She mumbled retracting her arm but Phil just chuckled and wrapped his arm round her shoulders.

"If you wanted to touch me, you could have asked." He smirked and she just rolled her eyes in mock exasperation at him.

"I'm going to bed." Sam said as she stood up and collected her jumper from the space next to her beanbag where they'd been watching the telly.

"Can I come?" Phil asked cheekily and Sam laughed out loud.

"Sure if you want…but remember that I do actually share with Gina." She replied as he got to his feet quickly, looking about for the things that he'd discarded during the course of the evening.

"I'll be a good boy don't worry." He murmured as he followed her from the room, earning himself a few odd looks on the way.

Emma shifted slightly on the large pillow she was lying on and Keeley too was forced to move as her head was currently resting on Emma's stomach. "Green…number 3." Emma said softly as Keeley moved the fortuneteller according to these selections.

"You'll find the love of your life if you just open your eyes a little wider." Keeley giggled as she read from the segment. "God who actually made this? I found it down the back of the pool table…maybe it should have stayed there!" She said as she threw it at the back of Will's head so he turned round and scowled at her.

Emma looked around the room a bit and her eyes zoned in on a little clump of blonde hair that was emerging from one of the beanbags close to her. She leant up on her elbows to get a better look and sure enough Florence was tucked into a ball, fast asleep in the middle of her beanbag, her thumb firmly in her mouth. Will's eyes followed the same movements and he crawled across to Emma who'd just put her hand over her own mouth to stifle a yawn. "I'll take her up to the cabin if you're tired Em…let you stay here and rest with Little Miss Trouble." He said jerking his thumb in the direction of Keeley who was now smiling angelically at him.

"Awww would you. That's great, thanks hun." Emma said smiling up at Will before she lay down again and went back to watching the telly. Will moved over to Flo's beanbag and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her from the hall still wrapped in a blanket. He flicked on the light switch as he went into the cabin and made his way over to the bed, noticing her stir slightly as he walked.

Flo's eyes flickered open and widened in horror as she saw a dark face looking down at her. She tried to move her legs but felt his hand under her knees restricting her movement, flashing back to the real-life nightmares that had haunted her before she was placed in care Flo began to shriek loudly causing Will to jump and almost drop her in fright. She began to scratch at him face with her sharp little nails and Will quickly placed her down onto her bed where she lay sobbing. He looked about nervously, unsure what to do, feeling the cuts on his face prickle as the blood oozed slowly from them. Taking one last look at the little girl he turned and ran down the hill to find someone who would know how to handle the situation.

He burst in through the double doors of the Rec. Hall and grabbed Emma from the pillow, pulling her from the room and explaining briefly on the way. They reached the cabin and Flo was still lying in the same position on the bed, hunched over and sobbing violently. "Will…go and fetch Sascha, tell her its urgent." She whispered as she made her way over to the bed and knelt down next to it. "Flo? Flo its Emma. Do you want to tell me what happened?" She asked; as she saw Will leave the cabin, dread filling every part of her, what had he done to scare her this bad?

Florence didn't seem to be capable of speech, she just rocked back and forth so Emma sat up on the bed next to her and placed her arms around the child. She cried long and hard and Emma felt the tears soak in through her t-shirt and wet her skin in places. They'd ended up with Emma's back pressed against the wall and Flo cradled in her arms, her face buried in Emma's chest. The door to the cabin opened slowly and Will and Sascha appeared in the doorway, both with the same worried expression on their faces.

Emma stood up and laid Flo back down on the bed before she crept across to Sascha and Will. "Do you know what happened…what happened to make her this upset?" Emma asked cautiously, sneaking a quick glance at Will.

"Yeah I've got a pretty good idea now. Will said he was taking her up to the cabin because you were tired and that as he carried her over to her bed she stirred and opened her eyes. See when Flo was about four she was first taken into care after it had emerged that she was being sexually abused by her father. One of the only things they got out of her about what had happened was that she remembered him carrying her over to the bed. When she woke up tonight she probably didn't recognise you through the darkness and just remembered what used to happen when somebody picked her up and put her in bed. She seems to have calmed down a bit now…can you get her to corroborate this Emma?" Sascha said softly.

Emma nodded and walked back to Flo's bed and sat down next to her again. "Flo can you tell me what happened?" She asked again.

The little girl turned her face up to Emma's and looked pitifully at her. "Will was carrying me…it scared me. It was like when Daddy used to put me in my bed." Flo said, her lip trembling.

"I know this is hard sweetie…but did Will do anything to you…or touch you?" Emma asked, a massive lump rising in her throat as she stumbled over the words, hearing Will move behind her somewhere.

"N…no. He just put me on the bed and ran away. I'm sorry…he scared me that's all." Flo wept into Emma's t-shirt that she reckoned could probably be rung out because of all the tears that had been cried into it.

"It's okay baby, you don't have to feel sorry. Nobody did anything wrong. Now are you going to get into your pyjamas and I'll read you a bedtime story." Emma said, letting out a deep sigh of relief which she heard Will mimic behind her.

Emma walked back across to Will and Sascha and wrapped her arms around Will happily. "I never doubted you…you know that don't you?" Emma asked as she saw Sascha smile and walk out of the cabin.

"Of course I do. Night darlin'." Will said kissing the top of her head and releasing her before he too left the cabin and headed back down the slope.

An hour later Beth and Sally entered the cabin silently with the other girls and after making sure they were all wrapped up warm in bed they crept into their room to see Emma lying flat out on her back, her eyes closed and the corner of her blanket clutched tightly in one hand. They slid into their own beds and soon enough both of them fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night Flo dropped off the side of her bed and padded through into Emma, Beth and Sally's room, her little soft toy being dragged behind her. She stopped at the side of Emma's bed and tugged on her pyjama sleeve. "Mmmm." Emma murmured, waking slowly and reluctantly from a pleasant dream. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom she made out Flo's face and managed to string a few coherent words together. "What's wrong toots? Are you scared?" She asked and Flo nodded biting her lip.

"My bed's cold and there's scary noises outside." She said, her voice wavering slightly.

"Why don't you jump in with me then?" Emma asked flipping up one side of the duvet for Flo to snuggle under. Emma wriggled over a bit to make room for her and sighed softly as she felt the little girl curl up next to her and reach out a hand to pat the side of Emma's face.

"Thank you…love you." Flo whispered and a small smile spread across Sally's lips as she heard Emma murmur back the same from the bed next to her, thinking how one little girl had changed her friend so much for the better.

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**Okay so I know there's not much SP in that chapter but that is the end of that little story so I'll be moving onto something else involving most peoples favourite characters in the next chapter which hopefully will be up Monday/Tuesday but I'm not promising anything. Any PM's that I send will hopefully indicate how soon it will be up over the next few days :P Reviews again are very much appreciated and make the next chapter come quicker xxxxxxxpippa**


	13. The Secret Room

**He he earlier than I had planned but I got my ass in gear and wrote stuff today lol...not like normal at all :P Thanks to Emz, Becky, Laura, Gemz, Laura and Ally80 for reviewing the last chapter so kindly. More SP in this one :D Just for you lot he he **

"Dan…Will?" Gina asked, sticking her head around the door of the boy's cabin. She stepped further into the room and saw Dan, Will and Lewis all huddled around something on one of the beds. They still hadn't noticed that Gina was there so she crept up behind them and snatched the object that they'd all been staring at, out from under their noses. A photograph of Sally, Emma and Beth stared back up at her and she forced back a chuckle before laying it back on the bed next to the three guys who were sitting blushing nervously. "Ha you three look so cute like that." Gina said and the all frowned at her. "I was just in to ask if Dan and Will could have a word with Tanya for me…you know I think that boxing might actually help with her anger problems, if you two could just have a chat with her. Convince her that it's worth her while then I'd be grateful." She added before leaving the room, still grinning away.

That evening after tea, Tanya bounced away from Dan and Will smiling happily, thoroughly enthusiastic about he prospect of taking up boxing when she got back to Canley. Gina waved across at the boys and mouthed 'thank you' before turning away and speaking to Diane again.

Sam walked down through the grounds and along past the Rec. area. She sighed and looked up at the darkening sky, the stars just beginning to show. So far this teambuilding holiday was the best she'd been on. The weather had been perfect, the children not too annoying and Phil…Phil was just being Phil as usual but something was a bit different…he was gentler, softer, more caring.

She continued up past the swings and roundabout, the tennis courts and the pool house where she could see Emma, Kerry, Smithy and Lewis messing about diving off the board and doing somersaults into the water. Sam looked around her as she passed the trees and wrapped her coat tighter across her chest, twigs snapping spookily nearby. Sam tried to block out the strange noises and concentrated on making it back to the cabin. Then a noise caught her attention.

A gasp…or maybe a sob filled her ears from close by and she paused, unsure whether to continue on as if she hadn't heard it or investigate further. Her detective side took over and she parted the bushes to show a small clearing with a rock in the centre. Toby, one of the older boys from her group was sitting hunched over, something shiny clasped in his hand, a small pool of blood glimmering in the pale moonlight.

Sam took a step forwards and a branch snapped beneath her feet. She cursed softly and Toby looked up, his eyes momentarily connecting with hers. The pain, the hurt, the relief radiated from his eyes, passing into Sam's. "Toby…Toby what's wrong…what have you done?" She asked cautiously, taking a few more steps towards him and the rock he was sitting on.

He shrugged and lowered the knife to his arm again, carving a deeper cut and suppressing another gasp of pain. Sam winced, she felt physically sick watching him do this to himself. Taking another step over, she knelt down in front of him and lifted the knife from his wrists. "Toby I need you to come with me, I need to get those wrists bandages immediately." Sam whispered, trying to keep the worry from shaking her voice. The blood was pouring from his scratched arms and she was looking ever paler and more shaky with each minute.

"Toby. Toby come with me now." Sam commanded when he continued just to sit there looking at her. She stuffed the knife down the side of the rock when he wasn't watching and hauled him to his feet, wrapping her arm tightly round his waist to support him. This was no easy task though considering that he was about 5ft6 and she was only 5ft2!

They walked down the slope and over to the main cabin where Sam let them in and helped him into the kitchen. Sitting him down at the table she fetched cloths and pressed them tight against his wounds as she busied herself with the first aid kit, producing sterile wipes and bandages which Toby eyed suspiciously. When Sam had wrapped his cuts tightly in the soft white material and taped it up she tugged his sleeves back down over his arms and placed her hands on his knees looking imploringly up at him.

"I can't help it." Toby whispered answering Sam's question. "I get upset…or angry and then before I know it's happening. It's like I don't control it any more." He added falling forwards slightly.

"Hey…hey it's okay. You can talk to me. I'm here to help." Sam replied squeezing his knee in reassurance. "When did it start?"

"R…Right after Mum and Dad died. It felt so good at first, like I had power again; I could decide what I wanted to do and nobody could stop me. Now…it just…now it scares me. I've been clean for months now but…but they can't help me with this." Toby said hollowly.

"They can Toby, you just have to know where to go for the right kind of help. There are specialists trained to deal with people in your situation, you have to stop self harming Toby. You know it yourself, it's like the drugs, you get addicted to it, you can't help yourself." Sam said leaning up towards him.

"It's just so hard." He whimpered and Sam opened her arms to him, expecting him to fall into her and let her hold him. Instead he pushed past her and ran from the room, leaving behind only a bloody towel and the first aid kit as evidence.

Sam sat on the cold kitchen floor for a long time, contemplating what Toby was going through and how she could possibly help a child that messed up. Eventually she got up and tidied the mess away before she left the cabin and headed up the hill. She stopped in by the boy's cabin to check that Toby had returned there and was satisfied when Lewis said that he was lying on his bed reading a book. When she returned to her own cabin she flopped down next to Phil on the sofa, all the others had already gone off to bed a long time ago.

Sighing she rested her head on his chest and let the background noise of the TV wash over her comfortingly. "What's up toots?" Phil asked stroking her hair to the side.

Sam frowned but decided to ignore the toots thing and she leant further back into him. "It's Toby…I found him self harming before I came up here. I bandaged him up and then he started talking to me but when I reached out to hug him he just pushed me away and ran back to his cabin. I'm scared that I pushed him too far." Sam admitted and Phil paused, his hand half way through her shiny blonde hair.

"I'm sure you did what was right. If he wants to talk to you then he still will. Don't push him again, let him come to you but you have to tell Sasch and Frankie, they need to know so he can get help when he returns home, poor kid." Phil replied beginning to stroke her hair again. Then pulling her to her feet he pressed a finger to her lips. "Follow me." He whispered taking her hand and dragging her over to the stairs.

They walked up the stairs to the first floor of room, then to the second and they stopped outside a small door. Phil pushed it gently open and they went into a dark room, shutting the door behind them as they did so. "Phil? What are you playing at?" Sam whispered urgently.

"Shhh…you'll see." He nudged her forwards and she put her hands out in front of her and found a metal bar that wound up the wall. Clutching tightly onto it she edged forwards and found her foot placed on a raised platform, picking up her foot again she placed it on a higher one…steps. Taking care she walked up them and all the while she could feel Phil pressed right up against her until she bumped gently into a hard surface at the top of the curved staircase. Reaching her hand out she turned the doorknob and let them into the new room which thankfully was filled with a pale glow from the moon above them. Phil fumbled with the light switch by the door and the small shabby room was illuminated.

"How did you…what…where?" Sam asked, marvelling at the tucked away room that it appeared only they knew about.

"It doesn't matter, there's a bed, we have light, we have each other." He said pressing a kiss tenderly to her lips and bending her back over the bed so the fell gently onto it.

"We have each other." Sam murmured in reply as she raised her hands up to either side of Phil's face and deepened the kiss.

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**Thank you for reading now REVIEW or I'll be ages in putting up the next chapter which I can promise has more SP in it :P xxxxpippa**


	14. Wish On A Falling Star

**Thanks to Sam, Emz, Laura, Jodie, Becky, Laura and Gemz for reviewing the last chapter. :D It means a lot to me guys so thank you and please review this chapter as well. The next one is a slight change to the system lol you'll find out soon enough...I'm hoping for a Friday update...it could be Wednesday if you're really lucky but yeah it's me so don't get your hopes up! xxxpippa**

Sam felt hot breath on her cheek, her eyes fluttered open and the room slowly came into focus. Phil lay next to her on the bed, the white sheet wrapped loosely around him and his hands behind his head, his face turned in towards hers. "Sleep well babe?" He asked grinning.

"Oh I think you know I did cheeky." Sam replied leaning over him and pressing a lingering kiss to his lips.

"So sexy, how about we make it 11pm back up here tonight?" Phil suggested, pinning her down beneath him, looking over every inch of her. Sam nodded back and leant up, trailing a stream of kisses across his neck and chest, her nails digging into his back lightly.

Twenty minutes later they both crept down the stairs and left the room separately while the others were fighting over the queue for the bathroom so as not to draw attention to themselves. Unfortunately this wasn't really enough as their roommates had discovered them missing late the night before and had put two and two together.

Meanwhile Beth and Sally were sitting on the floor of their cabin each trying to tie one of the twin's shoelaces while watching Emma chase Flo round and round the cabin trying to get her to put a pair of socks on. Beth flopped sideways giggling as Flo crawled under one of the beds and out the other side, leaving Emma with no option but to follow. Emma lay on her front under the bed, only her head sticking out, her arms folded under her chest, a sulky expression on her face as Flo danced about in front of her triumphantly. "Floeeey…Flo just stay still…please?" Emma laughed after she'd finally got out from under the bed and was continuing to chase the little girl around. 

"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!" Flo shrieked as Emma was catching up with her, still holding a pair of socks in her hands. Emma paused and then ran back round the other side of one of the beds, catching Flo and scooping her up and throwing her over her shoulder. Flo wriggled and tried to tickle Emma's back but Emma continued out of the door of the cabin and down the hill towards the hall for breakfast.

"Morning." Emma turned as she heard Will come up behind her. "What's she done now?" He asked tweaking Flo's ear affectionately.

"She won't put her socks on, she's being a naughty girl again." Emma laughed tickling Flo's bare feet and making her shriek again.

"What like you…and bad girls need to be punished don't they?" Will flirted, his arm around Emma's waist, squeezing it as he said this. Emma just raised an eyebrow and then followed him into the hall where the others had all started eating.

"Good night was it?" Kerry joked as she saw Sam yawning at breakfast. Sam just glared playfully at her and the rest of the table broke into giggles.

"What about last night?" Smithy asked worriedly, having only caught the end of the conversation. Emma giggled harder and Beth shot milk out of her nose.

"Nothin' babe. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." Kerry replied leaning over a kissing him softly.

"Ugh some of us are trying to eat here children." Gina joked pretending to puke over the side of the table. "So Sam…where _did _you disappear off to last night?" She added turning the attention away from Smithy and Kerry and back to everyone's favourite topic of conversation. Sam merely blushed and rose from the table, taking her dishes with her.

Later on Smithy sank down the mirrored wall next to Gina, both worn out from trying to keep up with Will, Emma and the children during dance. Emma and Will were dancing close together, her body rippling in time to the beat with his. Her eyes closed slightly as she moved with him, her mouth moving in time to the lyrics. "Oh, baby, it's alright now, you ain't gotta flaunt for me. If we go and touch, you can still touch my love, it's free."

"She so totally fancies the pants off him." Smithy muttered and he stood up so the kids would stop focussing on Emma and Will who were on the verge of becoming inappropriate in front of them. "Okay people…let's get some more music on and do something a bit different." He shouted and hit shuffle on the sound system so High School Musical came over the speakers. Smithy groaned inwardly and raced back to his position by Gina who was in stitches. "Ugh I hate this song." He grumbled as Get Ya Head In The Game played loudly around them. "My niece loves the movie…worst bloody thing I've ever seen." He continued to complain.

"Get on with it grumpy." Gina said nudging him as they watched Emma and Will stop and look around them, only just noticing that the music had stopped. Then a few minutes later when 'Can you move it like this' came on they were off again bouncing about, laughing non-stop. "Do they know how silly they look?" Gina chuckled as Will picked up Emma and span her round.

"Don't think they care…they're having as much fun as the kiddies!" Smithy smirked watching as Emma blushed when Will's hands settled dangerously low on her back. Gina and Smithy exchanged a knowing look and left them to it, they weren't doing any harm after all.

In the evening Sam and Phil escaped the company of the others and wandered across the site together. "It's lovely here." Sam murmured as she looked around her, one arm wrapped round Phil's back, his arm mimicking hers. They continued walking up through the grounds and over along past the fences to the East side. Phil leant across and plucked a large pink flower from the tangle of flowers and grass that was growing on either side of the fences. He turned in to face Sam and tucked it in her hair behind her ear so it was sitting prettily on top.

"Gorgeous." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead and taking her delicate hand in his. "I love you." He added as they came into sight of the cabin but Sam wasn't paying attention. She dropped his hand and stepped off to the side.

"Oh no…shit no." She said as she heard a gasp from within the bushes. "Phil…look Phil go back to the cabin. I'll be there soon. I promise look trust me. Just go." She pleaded with him, the urgency in her voice straining at her words.

Phil took one look at his distressed girlfriend and did as she asked. As soon as he was out of sight Sam broke through the bushes and saw Toby, his wrists bloody and savaged, the same knife clutched in his hands although it was slightly dirty and was now scratched from it's hiding place in the rocks. "Toby…Toby drop the knife. Drop it now Toby." She said slowly and sternly. Toby's eyes flicked up to hers, just as they'd done the night before but this time Sam could see the tears on his cheeks.

The knife clattered to the ground and Toby slid forwards off the rock, Sam only just catching him in time and he hunched over, leaning on her knees, sobbing so hard his whole body shook. Sam stroked his back and whispered soothingly to him until he'd calmed down a bit. "Come on big guy, what's going on with you?" She asked gently and he looked up at her again.

"I don't know any more." He whispered, nuzzling his head into her side slightly. "I thought I could handle it when Mum and Dad d…died but it was hard…really hard. Then there was the drugs and I…I just lost control."

"Look I think you're being really brave telling me all this. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it if people close to me passed away, you don't have to cope with anything on your own, there are lots of people there waiting to help you. It's expected that you'll want someone to talk to, someone to rely on. You're still a kid Toby. You're not supposed to have to look out for yourself the whole time. Let me look after you." Sam tried, a few tears escaping her own eyes.

"My hands hurt." He mumbled softly and she stood up, offering him her hand which he accepted and they walked down to the cabin together. After Sam had bandaged his wrists up she took hold of both of his hands and the look in Toby's eyes said everything. Sam reached out and pulled him into her, wrapping her arms firmly round his back, locking him in a tight hug which this time he didn't refuse. A few minutes later, they were both leaning heavily against the other as both were sobbing. "It's…it's all I've wanted…since the…the accident." He cried hanging on tightly to Sam.

"You come to me for a hug any time you like Toby." Sam said wiping away her smudged eye makeup and following Toby from the main cabin and back up to his, the knife now stored safely in a locked cupboard in the kitchen so he couldn't get to it. They walked in through the cabin door and Toby hugged Sam once more before making his way over to his bed.

On the way he passed Ben's bed who went rigid and began to hyperventilate. Lewis turned quickly to look at him before rushing to his side and shielding him from Toby. "It's okay mate. Nothing's gonna happen. He doesn't have the knife…does he Sam?" Lewis asked looking at Sam.

"What no it's locked away. Nobody here has a knife." Sam said in confusion. Ben looked visibly calmer on hearing this and his breathing began to slow and give way to a more steady rhythm. Toby crept over to the bed and sat nervously by Ben.

"I won't hurt you Ben. I'd never hurt anyone." He mumbled shyly, twisting his fingers in his palms. "I've got a problem with…with sharp things but I'm going to get better. Sam's going to help me." He admitted softly so only Ben, Lewis and Sam could hear.

When the kids had all calmed down Lewis followed Sam outside. She opened her mouth to let out a torrent of questions but Lewis silenced her by raising his hand. "Before you ask, word spread round camp that Toby had a knife. Ben was a victim of severe knife crime. Several white youths attacked him with knives a few years back, he had to testify in court and everything. He's a bit jumpy, especially when knives are involved." Lewis said, answering all her questions at once.

"Oh…well thanks for that Lewis. Just keep an eye of Toby for me will you? Give me a shout if he gives you any bother." She said smiling and waving bye to him.

"Will do Guv…Sam." Lewis said, laughing at his mistake. She walked slowly back to the staff cabin, her feet dragging slightly due to her extreme weariness. Half way there she passed Will and Emma who were looking particularly cosy, walking hand in hand in the direction of the girl's cabin. She smiled and then continued up the steps and entered the living room to be met with gasps and cries of shock.

Looking down at her clothes Sam laughed. She had blood smeared across her top and jeans and her make up had evidently run down her face. "I'm fine guys. It was…it was just one of the kids. He's fine now. Ewww I really need to get cleaned up." She giggled seeing their faces turn from shock to relief almost instantly.

Phil ran up the stairs behind her and captured her in his arms. "Oh babe I was so worried about you. Give me a cuddle." He said wrapping her tightly in his grip so she couldn't have gotten loose even if she'd wanted to. Sam's knees collapsed and Phil lifted her under the back of her legs, taking her through into her bedroom which she shared with Gina and placing her lightly on her bed. Sam didn't even protest that she was getting into bed with all of her day clothes on, let alone the fact that they were covered in blood. Phil curled up next to her on the bed, her hand clasped in his, their faces turned in together. "I love you." He whispered and the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile although her eyes were already closed.

"I love you too Phil." She replied sleepily as she wrapped her arms round his neck, bringing him in closer to her.

Meanwhile Emma and Will had made it back to the girl's cabin, still joined at the hands, neither quite sure how to play it. Emma fidgeted and moved from foot to foot as they stood just off to the side of the door. "Night Will." She said softly, turning to leave but he pulled her back and leant closer to her, hesitating just centimetres from her lips.

Emma paused, stock-still and then she rose up slightly on her tiptoes, their lips bumping gently together. Will made to pull away but Emma placed her hands at the back of his neck, preventing his from moving, pulling him back in closer to her. Will parted his lips and felt Emma's tongue slide between his teeth, gently exploring his mouth with an untamed passion, a side he rarely saw of her.

Eventually they separated and Will just stood there. "Wow." He whispered and he smiled as Emma paused at the door. "Night Em, sleep tight." Were his last words to her before the door closed softly, leaving him standing outside alone in the moonlight.

Emma crept past the children sleeping in their beds and closed the door to her room quietly behind her, sinking against it, a huge smile on her face. Beth and Sally exchanged a look but waited until Emma had finished getting changed before beginning their interrogation. Emma flopped backwards onto her bed, still smiling dreamily. "Okay out with it, what happened with you and Will?" Sally burst out, causing Beth to giggle.

"Who says anything happened." Emma retorted but after seeing the unimpressed look on the other two's faces she chuckled and lay down between them. "Well…we kissed…okay snogged." She admitted which caused Beth and Sal to squeal in excitement.

"So are you together now?" Beth asked nosily.

"Oh um…I don't know. See we didn't really do much talking afterwards." Emma muttered, kicking herself.

"Anyway…is he a good kisser?" Beth continued and Emma threw her pillow at her to shut her up.

Will wandered back across the slope to the staff cabin where he sank down onto the wooden steps, pondering the events of the night. Were they together, what did she feel for him, was it just a mistake or a bit of fun? There was only really one way to find out, he'd have to pluck up the courage and ask her. Lying back on the patio Will looked up at the nights sky, a sparkling star in the distance catching his eye. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight." Will whispered before making his wish. His wish on a falling star.


	15. The Great Outdoors

**Thanks to the usual suspects for reviewing so kindly :D I love you guys. Enjoy...only two more to go sniff sniff :(**

Emma got up from the table and bumped into Sam, grabbing the stacked bowls from her hands before they fell crashing to the floor. "Wow sorry Sam." She said as they carried the dishes over to the big sinks where Smithy and Kerry were already elbow deep in soapy suds as a punishment for forgetting to lock up the pool house and as such letting in a skunk which ended up in the deep end of the pool. It was also going to Smithy's job to fish it out later!

"Oh yeah, how's Toby?" Emma asked softly as they walked side by side out of the hall.

"Not bad, Sascha and Frankie have arranged for him to get counselling when he gets home but he really does seem a bit happier now. He's trying so hard as well. These kids are so strong, I don't know if I could cope with anything that they have in their pasts." Sam said fondly.

"Yeah…me neither. Still my sister used to self-harm. I never really got why because it's not like we weren't well off or nothing. I thought we had everything we wanted but I just don't think it was enough for Sarah. I mean she got help…eventually but you know she took a long time to recover. She's still not the same sister I had when I was ten." Emma murmured staring off into the distance, a glassy look in her eyes.

"Oh Em." Sam replied running a hand comfortingly over Emma's arm. Emma shook herself out of her trance and smiled weakly back. "How's Keeley?" Sam asked trying to keep her mind off it.

"Hmmm…oh yeah she's good. She's such a sweet kid behind it all. I was thinking maybe we could give her and Toby a bit of responsibility you know to test their leadership skills and stuff, stretch them a little. Maybe we could get the two of them to look after and be responsible for two of the little ones on the overnight…what do you think?" Emma said smiling.

"That's a great idea Emma! I'll go run it past Frankie in a minute." Sam said, spotting the camp organiser wandering about nearby.

Will sauntered across. "Hey, I was wondering if I could have a quick word with Emz." He said winking at her so only Sam would see.

"Sure." Emma replied as she followed Will around the back of the main cabin. "What did you want?" She began to ask but Will silenced her with a kiss as he pushed her up against the wall. "Okay so now I know." She murmured before he pulled her back towards him, running his hands up her sides and catching her arms, pinning them against the wall above her head.

A rustle in the bushes nearby caused them to break apart but when they saw nothing Emma kissed Will quickly again before dragging him out from behind the cabin, each with a guilty smile playing on their lips.

In the afternoon all of the teams were packed up and they set off from the site towards one of the large hills in the distance. Sam and Phil lagged behind at the back trying to wangle as much time alone together as was possible. They walked for well over two hours before the little ones started complaining about being hungry and they all stopped for something to eat. Beth flopped down next to a tree and rested her head on her bag, her eyes shutting a little bit despite her trying her hardest not to let them. Twenty minutes later Dan nudged her awake again. "Beth…Beth do you want something to eat before we go?" He asked softly, looking down at her.

"Oh um…yeah please." She replied rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and sitting upright again. After Beth had eaten they all set off again, at a much slower pace than before. "How much further is it?" Beth grumbled to Frankie who turned to look at her and just shook his head.

"You sound like one of the kids!" He remarked and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay so maybe you are a bit like one of the kids but you know what I'm on about…how old are you anyway?" He asked out interest, not rudeness.

"Eighteen…I'll be nineteen in five months though!" Beth replied proudly and few of the group sniggered at her. An hour later they began the steep climb and everyone felt the muscles pulling sharply at the back of their legs. Half way up a few of the little ones sat down. Keeley stopped by Flo who she was in charge of and Toby paused as well. After sharing a few quick words they each took one of the little one's on their backs and began to climb again.

Will crouched down next to Peter and Rowen who were also sitting rubbing their eyes sleepily and grumbling to themselves. Emma came up beside him and rested her hand on the back of his neck. "Why don't we each take one of them?" She asked offering her arms out to Peter who smiled and launched himself towards her. Will scooped up Rowen and let her head loll against his chest, her little hands hanging tightly onto the neckline of his t-shirt.

Emma kept casting a look over to them every now and again and Will paused next to her. "Jealous are we?" He whispered reaching out a hand and tracing lines up and down Emma's back. She giggled and rolled her eyes at him before she continued up the hill towards Lewis who was now carrying Sarah-Louise on his back as well.

"It's only ten minutes until we reach the spot we'll be pitching the tents at guys." Frankie announced suddenly which provoked a hollow cheer from the thoroughly exhausted group. Finally they stepped up over the side of the wide basin between the two largest hills. Emma, Will and Lewis carried the children over towards some large logs which were placed around the remains of a camp fire. They laid them down gently on top of some of the bags and went to fetch the firewood while the others pitched the tents.

An hour later the fire was roaring, all the children were awake and everyone was tucking into burgers and hotdogs served by Smithy who was apparently a bit of a BBQ ace. Bags of marshmallows were passed out and at the end of everyone was very sticky, full and tired. Sam stood up to get a drink of water and when she returned Phil pulled her down onto his knee and kissed the back of her neck discreetly. Conversation eventually died away and everyone found themselves just staring off absentmindedly at someone on the other side of the circle. "Okay troops, time for bed." Gina said rounding up the children and herding them over to their tents.

Sam's head was leaning against Phil's chest, his arms round her waist holding tightly onto her. "I love you." She whispered and Phil beamed. Jack raised his eyebrows and so did a few of the others, it was pretty much unheard of for Sam Nixon to show affection. She'd been the cold, hard bitch for so long they thought it was near impossible.

Gina returned to the circle and flopped down next to Jack. "Who's gonna have the tent next to the kids?" She asked sounding thoroughly worn out.

"I don't mind." Diane said resignedly and Jack also raised his hand.

"Well there's two, two man tents, a four man tent and a five man tent. Will and Emma, and Dan and Beth can have the two man tents if they want them and the rest of us will split won't we?" Smithy said logically, something which was a bit of a first for him.

After some grumbling they ended up with Jack, Gina, Phil, and Diane in the tent beside the kids and Smithy, Kerry, Sam, Sally and Lewis in the other. Sam stood up and stretched before turning round to kiss Phil goodnight. He looked sadly after her but smiled when she turned and blew him a kiss from the tent opening. "Phil Hunter gone soft…who'd have thought it." Gina muttered on her way past, earning herself a slap on the arm.

An hour or so later Emma flipped over onto her back, shivering slightly. The temperature had dropped dramatically as night had fallen and she was still cold, even with her sleeping bag pulled tight up around her neck. "Will…Will." She whispered leaning over towards him. A low grunt signalled that he was in fact awake. "Will I'm cold." She continued and he turned over to face her.

Unzipping the side of his sleeping bag he indicated that she should get in. Emma wriggled out of her own sleeping bag and slipped in next to Will in his. "Mmmm this is cosy isn't it?" Will murmured as he felt Emma's body pressed up tight against his. He snaked his arms around her waist and leant towards her.

"Will that's my nose!" Emma complained as she felt his lips press gently against it.

"Whoops…sorry." He muttered and lowered his lips a few centimetres so he could find her lips instead. A minute or two later Emma rested her head on Will's chest and closed her eyes, only to be woken a few minutes later.

"Oh Dan don't stop." Beth moaned softly from the tent next to them. Emma heard Dan groan and looked up Will smirking. He raised his eyebrows at her and leant down to kiss her, more passionately this time to block out the noises from next door. Eventually Will heard it go silent and he stopped kissing Emma, the distraction, however pleasant it was, no longer needed.

"Em…my back's really sore lying like this, do you mind if I lie flat out instead?" He whispered in her ear.

"Course not babe." Emma replied as he swivelled them round so Emma was lying on top of Will with her fingers laced through his. Will smiled up at her and they shared another kiss. "Night." She whispered and finally they both fell asleep.

**Look forward to the next chapter if you review...if you don't I'll curse you (not swearing...spells...mwahhahahahaha) hmmm yeah anyway please continue to review and for those pesky SP people who always niggle me for more SP I promise to give you a healthy dose in the next chapter :P xxxxpip**


	16. Floating On Cloud Nine

**Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter so kindly, this is the second last chapter boo hoo :(**

Lewis yawned and stretched out before snatching his hands back quickly as they came into contact with something soft. Slowly opening one eye, he saw that his hand had connected with Sally's back which was pressed up against him. She flipped over and pierced him with her stunning blue eyes. "Morning." She said cheerfully and he groaned, putting his hands over his ears as she voice rang loudly through them. There had been a little too much drinking the night before in their tent thanks to Smithy's emergency stash of brandy.

After a few minutes, Kerry, Smithy and Sam all began to wake also, no thanks to Sally and Lewis's prodding and after much shuffling about and lowered eyes, they all emerged from their sleeping bags fully clothed although Smithy then realised his jumper was on back to front and made a big thing about taking it off and putting it back on again with all too much of Kerry's help.

Stepping out into the warm dewy air, Sally turned to the tents that were situated not far from their own. Creeping over to where there was still no sign of life, she unzipped the outer of Emma and Will's tent and poked her head inside, her cheeky grin changing to a more 'aww cute' smile as she saw the sight before her. "Psst…Lewis, Smithy, you lot." She whispered as she beckoned them over.

They all gathered around the opening to Emma and Will's tent to see them still tucked up together in Will's sleeping bag. Emma's head was resting under Will's chin and he had the front of the sleeping bag pushed down and his hands slipped around her waist. Smithy turned and exchanged raised eyebrows with the rest of them before he tweaked Will's foot which was sticking up out of the fabric. Will grumbled to himself as he woke, dislodging Emma slightly but grabbing hold of her at the last minute so she didn't slide off him and hit the hard ground beneath.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, Will could make out the faces of his friends peering in through the tent flap at them and he groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Good night then Will?" Smithy asked cheekily and Emma squealed as she too noticed her friends all watching them. Hiding her red face in Will's chest she giggled softly.

"Nothin' happened." Will muttered but his friends all were crouched down with their arms folded in pure disbelief. Then again, it did look quite bad. Two people who everyone knew fancied the pants off each other were curled up together in one sleeping bag, lying one on top of the other looking very intimate and denying that anything happened between them! Not really what you would call believable.

"Course not…course not." Smithy replied sarcastically but as Will flipped down the corner of the sleeping bag they all saw that both Emma and Will were lying fully in their pyjamas. "Kay, fine, you two can be boring if you want to be." He continued as he withdrew his head from their tent.

"We wouldn't have been so…close…last night if it hadn't been for the noise in the next tent." Emma giggled causing everyone to turn and look at her. "What? Take a look in the next tent if you don't believe me!" She added and the others sneaked over to the next tent.

Smithy quickly pulled down the zipper and pushed aside the tent flaps to reveal Dan and Beth, lying in each others arms kissing, neither of them fully clothed. Smithy coughed and pretended to be sick as he fell backwards away from the tent. Beth snatched up a blanket and wrapped it tightly around her body, trying to hide everything her skimpy underwear already wasn't. "Well that was…revealing." Kerry half whispered, half giggled as she saw Smithy still sitting in shock.

"She's…she's just a baby." He was repeating as he couldn't quite believe what he'd seen.

"Chill Smithy, she's eighteen, she's not a little kid and you're not her over protective father so lay off. If Beth wants to screw Dan then she's perfectly entitled to do so." Kerry reasoned with him as she tugged him to his feet, leading him over to where some of the older children were cooking breakfast with Phil and Gina while Jack and Diane entertained the little ones with another of their stories.

After breakfast as Emma, Sally and Diane washed up the dishes they conversation naturally turned to that morning's events. "So…looks like me, you and Gina are the only women here not getting any romance!" Diane exclaimed after hearing all about Emma and Beth's unfortunate outings. Sally shuffled the dishes loudly and looked at the floor, a faint blush rising on her neck.

"Oooooh is Sal blushing?" Emma teased as she sidled up to her friend. "Okay so it's somebody here then…and well Dan's taken…as is Will and Smithy and Phil." She said whittling it down slowly but surely.

"Jack!" Diane squealed, wrinkling up her nose at the very thought of it.

"Don't be daft." Both Emma and Sally replied making the other giggle. "So…so it's Lewis!" Emma finally announced after going through everyone in her head once again. "That's so cute Sal, why didn't you say before?" She added and Sally just laughed and hugged her round the middle.

The day passed quickly for the whole group and before they knew it they were all back in the normal grounds, crowded round the campfire, feeling very full and sleepy after being treated to Smithy's cooking once again. A flashlight was being handed round as each child and adult told their own ghost or horror story, although when it came to Phil's turn he began a true story that made the relief all shudder and insist that the children were packed off to bed.

Emma, Sal and Beth stood up stretching their legs and shepherding the children up the hill towards the cabin. Sascha caught up with them and whispered to each of them the new arrangements for the rest of the evening. "Okay guys, Frankie and myself have decided that as it's the last night we'll let you lot have a night off. Frankie will let the guys have a little party in their cabin and I'll let the girls do the same here while you lot have the fire and some…treats waiting for you back there. All we ask is that you're back at the cabins to take care of the kids by 2am and that you're not too intoxicated that you can't look after them and yourselves." Sascha said chuckling as the three girls exchanged a look.

When the girls returned to the campfire the other members of the team had already found their treats which included three large bags of marshmallows, several bottles of wine and a few smaller bottles of spirits. Pulling out the children's plastic cups the alcohol was handed round and before they knew it they were all quite tipsy and agreeing to play truth, dare, kiss and tell. Dan lurched forwards as his bottle spun to land on Diane who chose number three which turned out to be a 'tell'. "Diiiiannnnne how come we've ne'er seen you wif a bloke. Are you like unloveable or summat?" He slurred almost falling forwards into the fire.

Beth slapped his arm hard at the same time Diane crumpled into tears which none of them had ever witnessed before. Putting it down to the fact that Dan had just been ultra bitchy to her and that she'd had a lot to drink most of them chose not to make a thing out of it and the others were already crowding round Diane, hugging her tightly and shooting dark looks at Dan. Diane snapped out of it and wiped her eyes before spinning the bottle and having it land on Smithy who chose two which had been agreed by Emma and Diane to be a 'kiss'. They both leant forwards and overbalanced, their mouths crashing together before they pulled away each showing their embarrassment in a different way. Kerry smiled and snuggled her head into Smithy's side, not seeming even remotely fussed that he'd just been kissing one of their colleagues.

Sam and Phil seemed to be playing their own game though as they stayed locked at the lips for what seemed like hours to the rest of the group. Occasionally they would spill a truth about themselves or do a crazy dare that was generally made up by Gina who'd had far too many brandies by then.

After a few more rounds of the game Lewis spun the bottle which landed on Emma who's chosen the number also corresponding with a kiss. Will reluctantly let go of her waist as she and Lewis found each other across the circle and shared a long, much anticipated kiss which really should have happened long ago when they first joined Sun Hill together as probationers. She smiled as they pulled away, that was another thing well and truly off her checklist. It had been nice, but she felt nothing more than friendship for him now and after all, she had Will, what more could she want?

Will was sitting with a sour expression on his face when she sat down next to him. As she tried to cuddle back into his side he pushed her away. "Will! What is wrong with you?" Emma exploded getting to her feet, tears prickling her eyes. Everyone turned from where they'd been chatting quietly and watched as she dragged him off to the side, just outside the pool of light the fire was casting.

"You…you enjoyed it. That kiss with Lewis, you enjoyed it, how am I supposed to feel?" Will replied, lowering his tone slightly but still managing to sound angry enough to frighten Emma.

"Okay so it was nice but I feel absolutely nothing for him. It was just a kiss between friends, we both are with people we like very much, it was just something we should have done ages ago. Lewis and I have known each other for years, since before we even came to Sun Hill so it was natural that we felt a little something for each other back then but I promise you it was nothing more." She whimpered, placing her hand on Will's arm and feeling him shrug it off yet again.

"I don't know Emma. How can I trust you?" Will replied, his own voice softening as he saw the pain in her eyes.

"I risked my relationship with my husband just to stay friends with you. I never once doubted you when you told me you had never stopped loving me even though you'd been with my best friend in between times. I trust you, can't you trust me. When things were over between me and Matt I went to you first, I knew you'd be there for me and had always believed in me. I love you Will, isn't that enough?" Emma asked, the tears still falling thickly down her cheeks.

"Oh babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you so much. I was just angry, forget I said anything. I love you too." Will whispered as he pressed his forehead tight against Emma's letting his hands fold tightly round her waist, lifting her from the ground slightly.

They walked back to the circle hand in hand and Will pulled Emma down onto his knees, kissing her in front of everybody. "Like we didn't see that coming." Smithy muttered and a few people smiled happily as the young couple snuggled up together, looking very much in love.

At some time after 1.45 am, Gina and Jack began to put out the fire and herd the other members of the group off to bed. Sam and Phil slunk off together, trying not to be noticed and failing miserably as Smithy pumped his fist in the air and yelled, "get in there Phil!" into the darkness making everyone giggle.

"Emma…babe it's time to go to bed now." Will said as he picked her up in his arms. They kissed and Emma whispered something in his ear. "No babe, you can't come to bed with me. Maybe soon but not tonight honey, you're drunk." He continued which provoked an indignant retort from her that he needlessly silenced with another passionate kiss.

Sally and Lewis were the surprise of the night for most though and when they stood up, his arm was tucked around her waist and half way up the hill, in full view of their colleagues, Sally pulled Lewis to her and pressed her lips to his. His hands slid further down her waist and her hands wound around his neck. When they parted they both had huge smiles on their faces with carried them all the way back to their cabins, almost as if they were floating on cloud nine.

**Another long one for you lot :P he he if you've read it then please review because I'm tempted to wait aggggesssssss before I do the next chapter so I don't have to finish my favourite story I've written ever. Still I can be persuaded either way :D **

**This is for Emzii who has been nagging me A LOT about getting another chapter done so here you go Emz, finally it's up :P love ya xxxxxxxxxpip**


	17. Better Than You Imagined

**Thank you so much to Becky, Laura, Lynsey, Gemz, Laura, Jodie, Ginagold fan, Ally80 and of course my superstar Emzii who's kept me going through this whole fic, giving me a kick up the backside when I couldn't be assed to write, spell checking everything like three times over and giving me some much needed advice, not to mention lovely words and the occasional virtual hug when we were both feeling low. This is for everyone who reviewed consistently, I'm sad it's over but review one last time and make me smile :D xxxxpippa**

The bunks were in chaos as children ran from bed to bed collecting borrowed items and returning them to their rightful owners. More than a few times there were collisions as kids with piles of clothes, books and toys rushed about without looking where they were going. "Who's lost a pink sock with little white flowers on it…and a card that says 'I think you're pretty lots of love Tyler'." Sally called out and Emma began to whistle as one of the girls rushed forwards to collect the card, an embarrassed grin spreading on her face.

Just then Emma saw Flo wandering about with one little pink sock on, grabbing the other one from Beth's hand, she caught Flo unawares and pulled the remaining sock on as the little girl giggled and wriggled around in her grip. "Uh I'm gonna miss this every morning!" Emma sighed as picked Flo up and carried her across to where Beth and Sally were standing talking.

"Won't I see you again?" Flo asked batting her eyelashes hopefully at Emma. The three girls exchanged a look…would they ever see these children again?

"Of course you will sweetie, I might come and visit you in the home if they'll let me." Emma murmured softly and Flo smiled so widely, Emma thought her face might break. "Why don't you go and finish packing your things, I'll be over in a minute to check you've got everything." She suggested as she let the little girl down and watched her race back off across the cabin.

"What if you don't see her again Emma, it's not fair to raise their hopes like that." Sally whispered and she saw Emma wince.

"I will see her again." Emma replied determinedly. "I promised I would, I couldn't let her down like that. My best friend was in care and I know how rough it is, I'll do everything I can to make sure she gets a decent set of foster parents. She deserves so much more out of life than what she'll get staying there." She added as she though of Corrine and how hard she'd had to work to make something of herself.

When the children (and adults) were finished packing up the dorms, they all headed down for an early lunch as the bus was coming to pick the children up shortly after two and there were still plenty of things to do. Sascha, Frankie, Jack and Phil began playing rounders with the kids in the middle of the site, marking out a huge area for it and getting nearly everyone involved.

After half an hour of non-stop running and catching, Emma, Beth, Sally, Kerry, Diane, Gina and Sam all sauntered off for a walk around the grounds. "Better than you imagined ladies?" Gina asked as they wandered along under the shade of the trees.

"Oh much better." Sally, Beth and Emma said simultaneously before breaking up into fits of laughter.

"Yeah and we all know why." Gina replied, shaking her head at the young girls who were still hanging onto each other, giggling away. "Still, the kids have been good fun as well and the activities weren't half bad. I'm sure Sam can back me up on this but this has got to be one of the best teambuilding trips that Sun Hill has had in years." She continued, thinking back a few years to the disastrous trip which had left four officers recovering in hospital with food poisoning and the rest of them cold, wet and lost in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish hills!

"Absolutely!" Sam said, laughing so hard that some tears actually escaped her eyes as she recalled another trip where Phil had fallen out of a tree after attempting to show off to some of the ladies and had been convinced that he'd broken his arm, when in fact he'd only bruised it! "The ones at my last nick weren't much better either…all in all, this one has been pretty amazing."

"Does that include the time not spent with Phil?" Diane joked, dodging out of Sam's way as she could tell that she was about to get a slap for her last remark. Sam however just rolled her eyes and laughed along with everyone else.

As they continued to wander by the tree line, the conversation turned to the other, younger girls and how they were enjoying their 'summer romances'. Beth blushed throughout and earned herself the nickname Bee, as in short for beamer.

Following the curve of the fence, they passed the children's cabins and ran laughing down the hill until Emma stopped short, making everybody bump into the back of her in surprise. "Keeley! Toby?" She asked incredulously as she spotted the pair, standing close together by one of the trees, locked firmly at the lips. Breaking apart, Keeley tucked her hair nervously behind her ear and kept her eyes trained on the ground in front of her. "Hmmm…what can you say…young love." She giggled making Keeley blush and hide her face in Toby's side.

"Awww don't embarrass the poor kid Emma." Sally moaned at her, dragging them all back towards where all the activities were taking place, leaving the teenagers in peace. "Look." She said as she pointed over to where Holly, Rowen and Flo were sitting in a little group, whispering to each other. Together Beth, Sally and Emma crept up on the giggling girls before picking them up and hearing them squeal in surprise as they span them round and round.

Eventually the three of them grew so dizzy they all toppled over, lying on the grass on their backs with one of the little ones sitting on their tummies. Beth and Holly were pretending to wrestle each other while Sally and Emma tickled Rowen and Flo until they giggled so much that their sides hurt and they had to plead with them to stop.

Gina sighed contentedly as she watched Lewis, Dan and Will walk over to join the three girls and their mini-me's. Holly, Rowen and Flo were once again sitting in a little huddle, chatting amongst themselves and now threading daisies together to make long chains of them. Lewis sat down next to Sally who wriggled over and rested her head in his lap, looking up lovingly at him as he stroked her hair. Beth and Dan were sitting back to back, talking to the other four members of their little group as they held hands discreetly.

"Emma." Will whispered as he sat down behind her, pulling her in towards him so she was sitting in between his legs and his chin was resting on her shoulder.

"Mmmhmmm." She murmured as she leant heavily against him, his arms slowly winding round her waist.

"I love you." He continued softly.

Turning to see Jack also watching the younger members of the relief she smiled and pointed across to where Diane and Katy were sitting with their backs up against a tree, chatting quietly. "It's a shame for her isn't it…they've all got somebody and she's just got this little girl." Gina muttered out of the corner of her mouth as she saw Diane looking wistfully over to where Sam and Phil were wandering along hand in hand.

"She seems happy enough though…but yes I get what you're saying. She must feel pretty left out now and then but she's tough, she's used to it." Jack said, still applying his no nonsense approach to everything even though they were almost on holiday.

After another hour or so of soaking up the gorgeous sunshine, Emma nudged Keeley as she was walking over towards the circle of older children. "So…how's things going with Toby?" She asked teasingly and Keeley blushed, nudging Emma back and pulling a face.

"I could ask you how's things with Will?" Keeley replied making it Emma's turn to blush and get embarrassed. "Toby's great, he's really nice and he makes me laugh lots. I don't see the problem."

"Good because I don't see a problem with it either. I was just teasing." Emma smiled as Keeley turned, hands on hips, glaring at her.

"You're such a meanie you know that don't you?" She giggled, launching forwards and beginning to tickle Emma but they just ended up hugging each other around the middle, laughing so hard they had to hang onto each other for support. "I'm gonna miss you…" Keeley whispered, leaning on Emma.

"Yeah I'm gonna miss you too kid. I'm sure I'll see you though, down the road with all your mates causing havoc!" She replied, smiling down at Keeley who she'd become rather fond of over the past two weeks.

Sam smiled as she felt Phil's hands slip around her waist from behind. They were standing at the top of the slope, looking out over the camp for what probably would be the last time ever. "I love this place…it's so…peaceful." She murmured and Phil grinned, picking her up and spinning her round.

"Not for much longer honey!" He replied as she screamed as he spun her faster and faster, making his turns smaller. Eventually they collapsed next to each other on the ground. "These two weeks have been great though…haven't they?" He asked, turning in to face her.

"Yeah…really great. I…I don't want this to end. I want to stay here forever." She said sadly, thinking of how when they got back to Sun Hill, she'd have to have a more professional relationship with Phil at work, even though all their colleagues knew they were dating.

"It doesn't matter where we are babe, I'll always love you." Phil said softly, leaning in to press his lips lightly against hers.

Later in the day as the children were being loaded back onto the bus which was to take them all home there were many a tearful goodbye as the officers had all got quite attached to at least one of the young campers. Phil smiled down at Sarah-Louise who was hugging on tightly to his leg, refusing to let go. "I might see you again some time sweetheart, come on be a good girl and let go…or I'll have to tickle you." He said making her giggle and let go immediately.

Sam hugged Toby tightly and whispered discreetly in his ear. "If you ever have any problems that you want to talk about, just give me a call and I'll be right there. Take care." Toby nodded and shuffled off, before turning back and giving her one last hug goodbye.

The officers all collapsed down onto the benches, thoroughly exhausted. "I never knew working with kids was so much hard work…or so rewarding." Smithy said, smiling as Kerry wrapped her arms tightly around him and rested her head on his shoulder. The others all murmured in agreement before their attention was drawn back to Gina and Jack who were standing in front of them.

"We'd just like to say that you lot have done exceptionally well this week, you treated those kids like your own (for those of you who have children) and for those of you who don't, I think you learned a lot about how to cope with them." Gina said grinning at her sleepy team.

"Yes congratulations all of you. Now, unless I'm sorely mistaken, we've got the long drive back to Canley this afternoon so I suggest we pack up and be on our way." Jack continued on from where Gina had left off. After a quick round of hugs from Sascha and Frankie, the officers picked up their bags, loaded the boots of the cars and clambered into them, waving goodbye out the window and taking in the beautiful scenery just one last time before the arguments began, the pop music was turned up full blast and Smithy and Diane resumed their thumb wrestling competition that had begun over two weeks previously.

Arriving outside the station late that evening, the officers all climbed from the cars, stretching their legs and grumbling about the traffic. So much had changed in the short time they'd been away, instead of waving goodbye to colleagues and going home to an empty house, many of them were cuddled up in pairs, discussing who's car to take to who's house!

Gina and Jack disappeared off in the direction of the Seven Bells for a well earned drink, joined by Heaton and Neil who wanted all the juicy gossip on what could only be described as their next challenge due to leave the following morning.

Sam and Phil stayed sitting in his car, her hand resting on top of his on the gear stick, refusing to move. "So…so I take it you're coming home with me then?" He asked tentatively and his face broke into a huge grin as he saw her nod, a smile playing on her own lips.

Sally leant up and kissed Lewis gently as did Beth to Dan before the two of them walked off arm in arm, waving bye to the boys who were still standing smiling dreamily, creating much amusement for the other officers. The biggest surprise however was Diane who tugged her bag glumly over to the Station entrance but was stopped half way as she heard someone call her name. Turning round most of the relief watched as her face lit up and she ran towards the man, throwing herself at him so he twirled her round and round. "Oh James, I've missed you so much." She said, just loud enough for a few of the officers to hear.

"I've missed you too babe." He replied, bending down to kiss her, provoking some surprised gasps from the relief who were still standing watching the unusual spectacle. Walking off hand in hand, she turned at the last moment and smiled to her colleagues who were still standing with their mouths wide open.

"So she has a boyfriend after all." Emma said as she elbowed Dan in the ribs. "Come on you, there's a bottle of wine in my fridge that's just crying out to be drunk tonight." She added, winding her hand through Will's and pulling him off in the direction of her car.

Spread across Canley, far and wide, the officers all snuggled down under their duvets, glad to be home again, the thoughts and memories of their time in The Lakes creating pleasant dreams and lulling them all into a deep sleep.

"**I have news about a teambuilding trip."**

"**I don't like the way this is going."**

"**What do you think camp's gonna be like?"**

"**I um…I forgot to pack my pyjamas!"**

"**Oh my god Diane cover yourself up!"**

"**So we're all playing hide and seek? How old are we? Four?"**

"**Well would you look at that, little Miss has a heart after all!"**

"**I'm not sulking…I'm just…just…well sulking."**

"**It was a great big hairy…"**

"**A great big hairy cat!"**

"**Why don't you make a move?"**

"**No comment."**

"**Ugh children."**

"**Kiss please."**

"**Well then my darling wife, lets get back to Gina and Smithy."**

"**Nothin' babe. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."**

"**Well…we kissed…okay snogged."**

"**Okay troops, time for bed."**

"**Well that was…revealing."**

"**Get in there Phil!"**

"**Won't I see you again?"**

"**I love you."**

**Can we climb this mountain, I don't know**

**Higher now than ever before**

**I know we can make it if we take it slow**

**Lets take it easy**

**Easy now watch it go**

**We're burning down the highway skyline**

**On the back of a hurricane**

**That started turning**

**When You Were Young**

**When You Were Young**


End file.
